Vol XXII - Issue 4 - OTwo

g thin y r e v ng E i h t ry Eve

o 17t w T er

, 5 1 0 h2

O

N

b m e ov

.

in Apl e l l rie Gab

e m u Vol

.

egan F x A le

, I I XX

4 e u Iss

Contents

2 Letter from the Editors 3 What’s Hot and What’s Not 3 Mystic Mittens 3 Soapbox: Seagulls - Gráinne Loughran 4 Spitballin’ with Alison Spittle 4 Keep it Coming with Clit McGinty - Eva Griffin 5 The Hague - Mieke O’Brien

Letter From The Editors

FOOD&DRINK 6 The Rise of Veganism - Niamh O’Regan 6 Cooks Corner - Mina Dawood 7 Sweet Republic - Laura Brohan 7 Snapchat Foodies - Niamh O’Regan

GAMES 8 The State of Play - Adam Donnelly 9 Fallout 4: First Impressions - Adam Donnelly

FILM&TV 10 History, Reality & Star Wars - David Monaghan 11 Alex Fegan Interview - Eva Griffin 12 Hand Gestures Review - David Monaghan 12 Carol Review - Patrick Kelleher 13 The Importance of Film Criticism - Corey Fischer 13 Top 10 Alternative Christmas Films - Andrew Carroll

CREATIVE WRITING 14 Grieve - Natalie Madden 15 Selection of Poetry

CENTRE

16 Everything Everything Interview - Aisling Kraus

MUSIC

18 Nothing But Thieves Interview - Christopher Seeley 19 Album Reviews 20 Gig Guide - Aisling Kraus 20 Radar: TabloidTv - Corey Fischer 21 Gabrielle Aplin Interview - Patrick Kelleher 22 Saint Sister Interview - Adam Lawler 23 Genesis of a New Genre - Owen Steinberger

FASHION&STYLE 24 Frost or Fierce? - Lucy Coffey 26 Om Diva Review - Megan Hickey 27 Dublin de Rigueur - Lucy Coffey 27 Celebrity Trendsetters - Katie Devlin

ARTS&LITERATURE 28 Oisin Byrne Interview - Meabh Butler 29 Waking The Feminists - Patrick Kelleher 30 Al Weiwei’s Lego Drive - Siofra Ní Shluaghadháin 31 Fatal Fourway: Most Irrational Fears 32 Fotografie

2

THat’s Eva and Karl

What a sad hello this is, WE HAVE reached our final issue for this semester. I know, I know, please try not to cry on our amazing magazine (it’ll ruin the ink, are you mad? Control yourself). Parting is such sweet sadness or whatever aul Willy Shakes said. Don’t you worry your head, Christmas is just around the corner! So take a break from the stress of exams, essays, and just relax with a beverage in hand while you read some of our shtuff.

As is always the case we start with What’s Hot and What’s Not. We will certainly tell you what the kids are up to these days with their cellular phones and that hip-hop rap music they’re all so keen on. Of course our fantastical feline, Mystic Mittens, takes us on another astrological journey of the future.

And you get a fond farewell from our dear Alison Spittle who recounts one of the proudest days in recent Irish history.

In Travel, this issue will tell you about The Hague and what kind of enjoyment there is to be inhaled.

Food this issue sees Niamh “Doc” O’ Regan pen a feature on the rise of Veggie eaters and the recent controversy with one restaurant’s ill-received issue with them.

The top Food Snapchats are revealed as well and we review the recently opened Sweet Republic.

Moving onto Games, Adam “Jekyl” Donnelly takes a look at the state of the Games Industry focusing on the botched release of Arkham Knight and the reception to such a release. First impressions are also included of the record breaking Fallout 4.

A quick page over to Film sees David “Hello I’m David” Monaghan bringing to light the importance of history and reality in pop culture and film. Alex Fegan is interviewed alongside reviews of the recent Hand Gestures and Carol. Closing the curtain on film, we take a look at the importance of film criticism and our top ten this issue is on Alternative Christmas Films.

In Creative Writing, as always Roisin “One Redbull and Shaking” Murray presents us with a terrific short story and a number of poems for your viewing pleasure. The story this issue focuses on the jolly issue of death, and lots of it.

Our centre has our own Aisling “23 Goddamn Questions” Kraus interviewing the one and only Everything Everything. Be sure to check this one out!

Next up is Music where Saint Sister and Gabrielle Aplin are interviewed. We are visited by the Rock N’ Roll Pope (which is just the regular Pope with KIZZ make-up on). Grimes, Ellie Goulding, and other albums are reviewed while Aisling continues her musical domination with the newest Gig Guide. Music ends with this issue’s Radar, this time: TabloidTv. Fashion opens with a Christmas Season shoot by our own Lucy “Purple for a day” Coffey. The Om Diva boutique is reviewed and we take a look at some celebrity trend setters further on. Be sure to check out Street Style for some winter fashion tips.

Finally we reach the end of this issue with our terrific Arts & Literature section. Our own Maebh “Loving the Sleep-ins” Butler interviews Oisín Byrne and Ai Weiwei and the Lego Drive project can be seen in the next feature.

At the back of this magazine you’ll find the Fatal Fourway on Irrational Fears (like seagulls attacking you and dying alone).

We hope you enjoyed OTwo this past semester and hope to entertain you in the next issues in the new year.

Lots of OTwo love, Karlton and Griffdawg

what’s hot & What’s not

Soapbox SEAGULLS

Hot

Not Hot

David Hoff

Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show

It seems the first two syllables of his last name were just too much hassle. While we wonder why he didn’t just change his name to David HasselHOT, the former Baywatch star dazzles us with his attempts to remain relevant. The sheer stupidity of changing his last name at the ripe age of 63 just to make trending on Twitter easier is an admirable feat in narcissism, but minimalism is so en vogue at the moment.

The University Observer Office If you really want to see a student journalist sweat, you don’t need to go as far as a defamation lawsuit, just lock them into their office and angle the fan just so, thus cutting off any air flow. While the Students’ Union strips off for their naked calendar, the Observer crew have been considering making their workspace a no pants zone simply to reduce the agonising body heat that’s fogging up the windows. Shout out to our number one fan. While your painful squeaking is headache-inducing, you remain our only respite while the air-conditioning remains perpetually broken.

It’s Basically Christmas Seasonal feelings are rising and it’s scorching under these fairy lights; yes lads and ladies, Santa Claus is coming to town. Of course, he’s not real and magic is a lie, but presents are incoming along with cringey season’s greetings from your least favourite and usually drunk aunt from down the road. With Halloween done and dusted, it’s time to throw that stale brack away and break out the egg nog, but try not to spill any on your sweater, it took weeks for Aunt Muriel to knit that nativity scene.

It’s that time of the year when Victoria reminds us that her secret to happiness is unattainable bodily perfection and ridiculously overpriced undergarments. While yes, the models strutting down the catwalk are undeniably hot in the most conventional sense, the reminder that the rest of us are slugs in wigs by comparison is not. Imagine a world where more than one body type could be deemed angelic by such a hellish industry!

Unthinkable!

Outside Hello darkness my old friend, it’s well and truly winter out there.

While we at OTwo have always approached the elusive ‘outside’ with great trepidation, we now encourage you more than ever to avoid what lies beyond the comforts of bed. Too rainy to leave the house without an umbrella, but also too windy to open said umbrella; the weather is having an absolute laugh and frankly, we’ve had enough of its shite.

It’s Not Christmas Yet Halloween isn’t even cold in its grave and we’ve already heartlessly moved onto the next chick. Quite possibly the most attention-whoring of all the holidays, Christmas is already begging for your attention and its cultish followers are adamant that it really isn’t too early for the lights to be up and the tacky sweater to be on. Give it a rest lads, it’s no use getting into the Christmas spirit with exams looming heavy on our heads, there’s no room for happy feelings here.

Mystic Mittens Aries

Libra

That guy you brought home from Coppers who introduced himself as C-Dawg will not text you back.

You don’t want him to. Get an STI testing kit.

The mould growing on the mug in your bedroom is becoming sentient. You should probably get rid of it before it starts talking back. You don’t need to deal with that kind of backtalk.

Taurus Shorts are not an item of winter clothing. Shorts are not an item of winter clothing.

Gemini Librocop will throw you out of the library for sneaking in an entire pizza during study week. He will not listen to your futile protestations of innocence as cheese dribbles down your chin.

Cancer An unexpected visitor will tell you that you are pregnant with the son of God. Your boyfriend will not believe you and will leave you to raise your son alone.

He’s gonna do big things though, it’ll probably work out in the end.

Scorpio Try not to get too excited when Maniac 2000 comes on in the club. You will strain your neck from furious headbanging and the people whose drinks you knock over will come after you when you leave.

Sagittarius Stop bullying your cat to sit with you as you study. He won’t talk to you over Christmas for fear that you will force him to learn macro-economics with you again.

Capricorn Holding mistletoe over your crush’s head and pursing your lips doesn’t make you seem any more attractive to them. Time to move on.

Leo

Aquarius

You will volunteer to take part in the Students’ Union naked calendar only to discover that everyone there is much more attractive than you. You will promptly leave.

Flirting with your balding lecturer to try to make him give you a better grade will backfire and he will invite you out to dinner. Accept your repeats.

Virgo

Pisces

You will do a session of “12 Pubs” with your friends.

You will make it to the sixth pub before losing your phone, and the seventh pub before losing your vision.

Go home now.

You will overhear your friends talking about you at the sinks as you sit on the toilet in the Newman building.

Do yourself a favour and pull up your trousers before you leave to confront them.

WE ALL had a good old chuckle when Senator Ned O’Sullivan said last year that “something needed to be done” about the seagull invasion in Dublin. “Ha,” we said, “look at that eejit giving out about seagulls when the country’s falling apart all around him. Shtate of him. Has he nothing better to be at?” But we were wrong. I was wrong. Something needs to be done about the seagulls’ reign of terror. Let me share my story with you.

I had just bought a burrito from Saburrito off O’Connell Street (a very disappointing burrito in fairness, it had nothing on Tolteca) and was on my merry way down Henry Street. I was looking in shop windows, feeling metropolitan and enjoying my second-rate burrito as much as was possible. And then a guy walking in my direction points directly over my head, shouts “holy fuck!”, and I feel the claws of some sort of demon perch briefly on my hair before flying off in the opposite direction. It’s the biggest fucking seagull I have ever seen. I look at the guy on the street, the guy looks at me, and despite the potentially romantic moment neither of us say anything because we are both in shock at this eagle sized bird of prey that has just assaulted me.

And it didn’t end there. This devil-gull simply wheeled around in the air to face me again. I looked at the gull. The gull looked at me. It had madness in its eyes. And after a brief moment where he evidently sized me up and decided I wasn’t much of a threat, he swooped, STOLE my burrito OUT OF MY HANDS, and left.

I don’t know about you, but if a person just came up to me and nicked a burrito out of my hands, yes it’s stealing, but I would probably be able to deal with it. But there’s no reasoning with seagulls. They have wings. They have sharp beaks. I’m not about to pick a fight with this seagull who just assaulted me and is probably chuckling away to itself at its tasty meal.

So there I was, hungry, mortified, burrito-less. Children were laughing at my crushed expression. I felt like I’d just been mugged. By a bird. No person should ever have to feel like they have been mugged by a bird.

Seagulls can ruin lives. I may never recover from the trauma I experienced that day. I will never forget the gull’s red beady eyes, its cruel, hooked yellow beak. The length of its wingspan. The brutality in its claws.

I am not the only person who has suffered like this at the hands, or claws, of seagulls. One only needs to Google seagull attacks and lists of examples come up. I have found myself in the company of Niall Breslin, for instance. Seagull attacks are not a new phenomenon. I demand answers as to why nothing has been done to deal with these abominations.

I am all for animal rights, and in general am a fan of animals. The fluffy animals in particular should have all the rights their adorable hearts desire. Seagulls on the other hand should be shot on sight. I don’t care if anyone says this is unfair, or cruel – life is unfair, and seagulls are cruel, and I have had enough. Senator O’Sullivan, I’m sorry I laughed at you. You were right all along. We shouldn’t have to live in fear of seagulls stealing our burritos. Death to the seagulls.

Words: Gráinne Loughran Illustration: Joanna O’Malley

3

SPITBALLIN’ WITH ALISON SPITTLE Alison Spittle shares her experience of her generation’s Italia ’90: Marriage Equality

Photo Alison Spittle PERFORMING IN EDINGURGH

RIGHT, this is my last article of the year.

Between Carrickmines and ISIS, this year is up there with all the other years as being a big shit heap that makes me lose my faith in humanity little by little.

Seriously lads, stop blowing planes out of the sky, not sound. That may sound flippant but the world scares me every day. If it’s not the news it’s the bush shaped like a hooded man sitting on my neighbour’s wall. He scares me at night when I come home. My mum rings me every week now with reports on who has died in my village and it’s getting too much.

That’s probably why I remember the Marriage Equality campaign so much.

It replays in my head like the happiest reeling in the years possible.

I remember the 22nd of May, it was a grey morning, I got the train home to Westmeath. I had my bright green Yes Equality T-shirt on. My Ma admired it but was worried that I couldn’t wear it to the voting centre as it had a slogan to do with the referendum. My only other T-shirt was a “Free, Safe, Legal” T-shirt. My Ma went mad. It reminded her of the time our neighbour wore a Lamb of God hoodie to Mass and he was the talk of the village for two weeks. Easy solution: I wore a coat.

Mam was afraid it would slip open and my vote would be invalid.

My vote was cast in the community

centre, a place where I went to youth clubs and under age discos; a place where you could buy a Catch bar and a bottle of Cadet while watching children perform a self written play on the funny side of Parkinson’s disease.

I voted without a hitch. I then spent the whole afternoon worrying that I ticked the wrong box.

After my mammy dinner I got the train home to Dublin, saw the #HomeToVote and started crying at the soundness of Ireland. I looked around the carriage. 75 per cent of the people were wearing the badges and a smile on their faces like it’s been a job well done.

The morning of the 23rd, the sky was the brightest blue. I woke up to reports of a landslide, hopped out of bed and cycled into the front lounge for a posh fry and RTÉ news projected on the wall like a match. Everyone whooped and cheered; this was my generation’s Italia ‘90.

I went to Dublin Castle at about 11am.

There were families with small children in fabulous sunglasses. People were admiring each other’s badges and sharing headphones to listen to the radio to find out what was going on. One side of the courtyard was the media pen beside the stage, where people were getting selfies with Gerry Adams and looking on proudly at David Norris as he was being interviewed with tears in their eyes.

The place started filling up and sun cream was shared and children were scolded for playing out of their parents eye line. As the results came in, cheers became louder as constituency after constituency turned green and confirmed they were in favour of equality.

Roscommon/South Leitrim was met with pantomime boo’s but it didn’t dampen the exuberant mood.

Every sound person I knew was on Dame street with a bag of cans. Cars were beeping, everyone held hands.

Panti Bar overflowed into half of Capel Street. I went on the seven senses roller coaster simulator. It was broken and kept veering in to a corner while bubbles were blown into your face. The bubbles were supposed to represent a waterfall in The Amazon but it just represented to me how shite this ride was.

The rest of the night was a blur. It was mostly spent in the lane beside Panti bar, hugging people.

I hope Ireland gets to experience another day like that again. I’m so happy with where Ireland is going. Although awful things happen, this country is changing for the better.

We just need to be sounder to women, travellers, and asylum seekers and tell the Church to cop on.

''My mum rings me every week now with reports on who has died in my village and it's getting too much.''

Keep It Coming With Clit McGinty

Eva griffin

Hiya Clit, So, I’m pretty sure me fella has been bangin’ this girl Saoirse when he should be bangin’ me. Like, I keep catching him staring at her arse. He’s so bleedin’ obvious about it too like I definitely saw him drooling last time? So, get this right, I finally coax him into some old fashioned missionary fun and I swear on me Nan’s grave he said her name when he finished after the usual two and a half minutes. Then he just collapsed on me and started snoring away while I’m lying there bone dry and bored as a gay lad in Coppers! Help me, Clit, you’re my only hope! xoxo Jessica Hey hun, Ah c’mere t’me! Yer fella sounds like a right bollix eyeing other girls when he’s got a perfectly good clit – I mean woman – in front of him. I bet yer a wee stunner and if I was yer fella we’d be attached by the clit – I mean hip.

I bet this Saoirse wan doesn’t even know her clit from her arsehole so don’t worry about her. Sure, I’d say yer man was only cryin’ out for Ireland’s freedom in a fit of passion! The missionary position can do that to us all love, it’s so cosy and traditional just like ol’ Éire.

My advice would be, avoid Coppers at all cost and hit up the George (not the aul man part though, that’s where the sad gays go). Lesbians are always telling me how much they love me – or is it the other clit they’re talking about? Wait, what was the question? I can’t remember, soz, but I’m pretty sure lesbian is the answer, they’re always up for some clit action.

Always here for you, Clit McGinty

4

Hey you little prick, I know everything. I know everything that happened between you and Olivia, so don’t even try to lie. Coming between a man and his woman is the greatest disrespect and you have no right to take her from me. She is mine.

I mean like, women aren’t possessions but she’s not allowed to do something without asking me first, alright?

I thought me and Olivia had a good thing going. I was giving it to her daily and nightly and ever-so-rightly, but I guess I just wasn’t enough. Well that’s just not true, man!

I’m so well hung and I never miss leg day. I mean like, I missed it one time but they were having a sale in Jack Wills, alright?

I don’t know where you are, but I swear someday I will find you. I don’t care how long it takes, I’ll find you, Clit, and you won’t even feel it coming when it happens. I mean like, you’ll feel it when it does happen but you won’t know beforehand because it’ll be a surprise attack.

Watch yourself, alright?

Sincerely, Go f*ck yourself!

Hey Go F*ck Yourself, Don’t worry about it hun, soon this anger will pass like an uncomfortable fart after a plate of nachos and you’ll be all the better fer it.

Good luck tryna find me, loadsa fellas have trouble with that.

Clit McGinty P.S. Olivia says hi.

Illustration by Eva Griffin

Visting the Hague

The Hague may be the lesser-known tourist destination of the Netherlands, but Mieke O’Brien enjoys days of cultural revival rather than recovery from debauchery on her visit VISITING AMSTERDAM always sounds like a good idea – except perhaps to those who have only just returned, and are still in the early stages of recovery. But why not visit a different destination in the flat land of windmills and cheese? In the government city of The Netherlands, The Hague, the price of a night of debauchery is decidedly lower and tourists are mostly absent, which makes it the best city to inhale Dutch culture.

Home to the Dutch Parliament and the international Peace Palace, the historical city of The Hague is one too important to miss.

An air of sophistication oozes from its chic quarters, but the plentiful people cycling the streets of The Hague demonstrate that the Dutch are distinctly down to earth. They are also overtly concerned with the punctuality and accessibility of their transport system, and are always willing to speak almost impeccable English, which is much to the benefit of the tourist wandering the streets of The Hague.

However, a tourist-to-be in The Hague will need to understand that the Dutch passion for cycling is one that is both inexplicable and insurmountable, and that a failure to avoid one of many cyclists flying past will only be seen by the Dutch as an unfortunate accident for the bicycle involved.

Fortunately, the shopping streets of The Hague are bicycle-free. For those concerned about clothing, there is no need to invest in a pair of clogs. In The Hague, you can blend in with the younger locals exhibiting continental hipster couture, or you can blend in with Dutch natives recognisable for their passion for practical clothing. The oldest shopping centre of The Netherlands can also be found in The Hague, the UNESCO listed 19th century building called the Passage. Upon passing through the Passage and after eyeing the many luxurious products which far exceed the student’s budget, you will arrive at the Buitenhof.

Here, you will find café “Dudok”, renowned for serving hot apple pie served with sugary whipped cream at a quality and price which

Photography & WORDS: MIEKE O’BRIEN

simply cannot be found elsewhere. Amongst the many eateries situated around the Buitenhof, are the trendy Italian restaurant “Vapiano”, where the most affordable and appetising pizzas are produced, and the more obscurely located café “Het Achterommetje”, where locals spend much time contemplating the assembling of their toasties, since you may include an unlimited amount of organic ingredients.

Next to the Buitenhof you will find the Binnenhof, an agglomeration of 16th Century buildings hosting the Dutch Parliament. If timed correctly, a visit to the Binnenhof can lead to a handshake with the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, as he is often sighted cycling around the premises. If you are interested in politics, then a tour around the Peace Palace can be arranged too. Since this is situated in close proximity to the North Sea, you can easily combine this with a quick dip in the sea, as the Dutch do this not only in summer time but also on the first day of the New Year. Or, you can visit the beach town Scheveningen; the home of the more artistically inclined and athletic inhabitants of the city of The Hague, where many surfers can be found wandering the streets.

In The Hague, there are many ways in which you can immerse yourself in the many aspects of Dutch culture. You can also enrich yourself by visiting, for instance, the Escher Museum, which features the impressively puzzling and surreal art works of Dutch artist M.C. Escher, or you can view the well-known Girl with a Pearl Earring, a painting by Johannes Vermeer exhibited in The Mauritshuis. But you can also choose to go and view people and products stemming from all parts of the world at the Haagse Market, a market which attracts about forty thousand visitors each day.

Since it is, of course, situated in The Netherlands, it will also be possible to avail of a popular product that can be sold freely by virtue of an infamous legislation. But fun and debauchery can also be experienced in the many bars in The Hague. Since the laws concerning closing time are not usually strictly imposed, many of these often well-hidden bars, such as the local institution “De Pijpela”, will stay open for as long as people continue to order cheaply priced pints. One of the two distinct areas of The Hague dedicated to the universal practise of socialising and drinking, is the Grote Markt, a small plaza surrounded by pubs preoccupied with pretending to make no posh pretence, as they proudly serve drinks in jam jars and make no effort to efface the stale smell of booze and cigarettes. Then there is also Het Plein, a larger plaza where bars sell more steeply priced drinks in a much less casual manner.

Stood at this square, you can see the display of unique, contemporary architecture which marks the skyline of The Hague.

Although perhaps not as infamous as Amsterdam, The Hague still allows you to see and do all that you yearn but have yet to experience.

Offering plentiful opportunities to partake in all aspects of Dutch culture, a visit to The Hague will leave you feeling revived rather than ready for recovery.

''A failure to avoid one of many cyclists flying past will only be seen by the Dutch as an unfortunate accident for the bicycle involved.''

5

The rise of veganism

Vegans have been the subject of much ridicule recently for their choice of food, but what exactly is veganism, and why does everyone care so much about what everyone else is eating? Niamh O Regan investigates

Photographs courtesy of Peta.org

VEGANISM is a dietary choice where people don’t eat animal products or other foods which contain animal products (most cakes, for example, contain butter and eggs).

Some stricter vegans will eliminate animal products in their entirety, opting for clothing too. Veganism has a strong link to animal rights and indeed the food industry is often cited as the reason behind people’s choice of veganism, with the premise that animals are mistreated for human consumption. Linked to this is often an environmental issue. Animals not only produce large quantities of methane, they also consume large amounts of potable water. They also occupy land that could be used to grow more sustainable crops; this land is often obtained through deforestation.

A nutritional argument is often posed to vegans that they lack sufficient nutrients like calcium, vitamin B12 and omega 3, which traditionally come from animal sources. When properly planned, a vegan diet can seemingly account for all potential nutrient losses.

While it is seen by some as a trend or a fad diet, the numbers of vegans are increasing and systems are changing; there are more vegan cookbooks, blogs and YouTube channels. More and more public figures are embarking upon

vegan diets. In 2010 the UN started to encourage a move away from meat and dairy to help combat climate change.

During the summer, the White Moose Café in Phibsboro posted a status on their Facebook page asking vegan customers to kindly not waltz into their shop and be horrified when there wasn’t a treasure trove of dishes on the menu that would be suited to their tastes. The post also asked if vegan customers would mind calling beforehand as a bit of forewarning so that their chef had time to prepare more than the regular amount of vegan dishes. They received seemingly equal amounts of support and disgust for their post, and continued on a sarcastic joke that probably got a bit out of hand, saying vegans would be “shot dead at point blank range”. Though the status went a bit too far, it does raise two issues with vegans eating out.

Firstly is that restaurants know their business and their clients. They feed the masses and they tailor their menu to do so. Without a large vegan clientele, there is not always cause for a large vegan friendly range. The owner of the White Moose Café

may then have a point in asking vegans to call in advance so that it’s easier for both customer and server. Though it might bring a clash of personalities, it does also highlight the second issue of the potential difficulties of eating out as a vegan. While the majority of restaurants will cater for vegetarians without much difficulty, veganism can seem a bit more difficult. Where dishes may be vegetarian, they may not be vegan – for example, a cream based sauce or something cooked in animal fat. It is perhaps too much to ask that everything be cooked in coconut oil instead of butter.

It would seem that the vegan experience is getting easier however. Dublin recently hosted its first VegFest on World Vegan day, 1st November, to a great reception. It was a celebration of all things vegan, veg culture, and veg business. With talks from vegan food bloggers, members of an Taisce and performances by elite vegan pole dancers, the popularity of the vegan diet stretches far and wide. With Guinness going vegan from the end of 2016, it raises the question of whether many other producers will follow suit and change so that they can expand their client base to vegan customers. In the case of Guinness, isinglass (found in the swim bladder of a fish), is used as

part of the filtration process and while it is removed, the final product can contain trace elements of it. Other things such as certain pastas and wines also can contain unsuspecting animal elements.

Despite the fact that veganism is becoming increasingly popular across the world, not everyone is on board with the dietary decision to forego animal products.

While it is often associated by some with pretentiousness and large piles of cash to spend on almond milk, this is more than likely to have been the experience of a

few irritated meat eaters. It is a parallel to pretentious self-proclaimed carnivores with money to burn on prime Argentinian steak; though they are few in number they most definitely exist.

While not everyone is keen on swapping eggs for apple purée or butter for avocado in cake mixes, veganism is certainly on the up, and it might not be the worst thing in the world, or for the world.

COOK’S CORNER

6

KNOWN AS Ringan tametar nu shakk, this Indian vegetarian curry dish comprises primarily of aubergine and cherry tomatoes. It’s cheap to make once you have stocked up on the spices, and it only takes 30 minutes. There is also no need for an oven, so it is suitable for those living on campus or in accommodation without an oven.

This recipe serves four, so it’s a great way to save money by having food left over to eat for lunch the following day.

200g cherry tomatoes, halved 1 teaspoons ground turmeric 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander 2 tablespoons tomato puree 1 teaspoon white sugar 2 large aubergines sliced 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 3 tablespoons cooking oil Natural yogurt (optional) Naan bread (optional)

Ingredients: 1/2 onion, chopped 1/2 fresh finely chopped green chilli 1/2 teaspoon of ginger 2 cloves of garlic

Method: Heat oil into a lidded frying pan on a medium heat.

Once hot, add in the onion and leave cooking for 7 minutes.

Add in the green chilli, garlic, and ginger. Cook for

three minutes while stirring.

Throw in the cherry tomatoes and place the lid on the pan.

Check after around 8 minutes to see if the tomatoes have softened and if so add in the salt, turmeric, cumin, coriander, sugar, and tomato puree.

Mix them all together until a paste like mixture forms.

Add in the aubergines as well as 150ml of lukewarm water and replace the lid.

Cook for 15-20 minutes on medium heat, checking regularly to see if the aubergine becomes soft enough to cut easily with a wooden spoon.

Once the aubergine has become tender enough turn off the heat.

Serve in a bowl with a spoon of yogurt on top and enjoy with some naan bread.

Whether it’s your night to host a student Come Dine With Me, you’re looking to impress a date, or simply in need of a healthy meal before commencing a late night study marathon, Mina Dawood has a recipe that could become your best friend

Decadence, you are delicious: Sweet Republic Brightly emblazoned on Bachelors Walk lies Sweet Republic. Laura Brohan followed her nose inside to the smells of waffles and chocolate to discover what the fuss is about SWEET REPUBLIC opened its doors three months ago and has been a roaring success ever since.

It is the brainchild of the owners of the adjacent family run cake decoration shop, Decobake. As the name suggests, this café focuses on all things sweet and is heaven for dessert fiends. The menu is extensive and offers everything from extreme milkshakes and hot chocolates to Belgian waffles and ice-cream cookie sandwiches. If you fancy a sugar binge, this place will satisfy your sweet tooth. Located in the heart of the city centre on Bachelors Walk, near O’Connell Street, Sweet Republic is easily accessible from UCD via buses 39a, 46a or 145.

On visiting the café last week, it definitely lived up to expectations. The décor is bright and kitschy, in keeping with the Willy Wonka atmosphere of the place. Bizarrely, there were tutus, masks and other fancy dress items on the shelf next to the table. No one seemed to be putting the props to use but that’s not to say people weren’t taking advantage of the photo opportunities the café presents. In fact, one of the first things that you notice when you sit down is that everyone in the café is taking photos of their food. It’s hard not to; the decadent creations are highly Instagrammable. Luckily, they taste as good as they look.

This month’s special is an absolute monster of a milkshake, aptly named ‘November X-treme Extra’ priced at €7.50. The extreme milkshakes are reminiscent of the Australian ‘Freakshakes’ that went viral during the summer. The milkshake was served in a Mason jar that was overflowing with toppings. It came topped with fresh cream, a chunky cookie, caramel popcorn and

''One of the first things that you notice when you sit down is that everyone in the caFE is taking photos of their fooD''

PHOTO: Laura Brohan

oozing caramel sauce. It was by far the most indulgent milkshake that has been created in some time. The presentation was outstanding and its taste undeniably delicious.

The second item for tasting and discussion was one of the ‘Hot Melts’, opting for the salted caramel option priced at €6.50. It was a hot chocolate topped with a scoop of ice cream, fresh cream and little pieces of caramel.

While it didn’t look quite as impressive as the Freakshake, it tasted equally as delicious. It’s the perfect antidote to chilly winter weather and ideal for people who can’t face a cold milkshake when it’s freezing outside.

Another item worth noting from their menu are their new ‘Superheroes’; hot chocolates and milkshakes topped with fresh doughnuts that are served in cute pop art cups emblazoned with classic pop art cartoon phrases like “POW” and “BAM”. The Superheroes come with an optional shot of coffee, which is perfect if you’re in need of a caffeine hit and want to bypass your usual Starbucks.

The only downside was the ordering

system; you’re given a ticket and have to wait for the order to be brought down to your table.

This took slightly longer than expected and the two orders arrived separately, which was disappointing. That said, a sign of a good café is the degree of how busy it is and that certainly rings true in this case.

The prices are a little high for a student budget but it’s worth it for the quantity of food alone, not to mention the taste. Coming on an empty stomach is advisory as the food is very filling.

Sweet Republic, 26 Bachelors Walk, Dublin is open 09.00-20.00 Monday to Saturday and 11.00-20.00 on Sunday.

Snapchat Foodie

Snapchat can satisfy an appetite, but who to follow to get that foodie fix? Niamh O Regan looks at her top five SNAPCHAT has grown hugely, so much so that Microsoft Word no longer uses spell check on it. While you may be perhaps more used to images of thumb faces in lecture theatres or videos capturing the amazing calibre of a friend’s dancing in a nightclub, there is more to Snapchat.

Beautiful food is no longer confined to Instagram or Pinterest; it has reached Snapchat too. Below are five different foodie accounts to follow. Some are more recipe based, some are more behind the scenes – but all involve food to make your mouth water.

Tastemade: Tastemade is one of Snapchat’s “Discover” channels, and was created following the success of their blog, website and YouTube channel. They describe themselves as a “global community of food lovers”. Their channel will boast several different recipes as well as food facts and a little bit of travel inspiration. Each lasts for only 24 hours. Swipe left and right to see what’s on offer and swipe up to view the recipe video in full. People involved in the Tastemade

community include our very own Donal Skeehan, Oli Haydon from Pint Sized and the four charming English guys from SORTEDFood.

JamieO1975: It is the Naked Chef himself.

Jamie Oliver snaps about him cooking at home often accompanied by one or more of his children, as well as a look behind the scenes of his popular YouTube channel, FoodTube. It remains consistent with what he has built his career on; good simple food that can feed masses or minions.

Bakerita: Bakerita Snapchat comes from the blog of the same name, featuring Rachel the “baker and photographer”. Unfortunately due to the general requirement of an oven for baking it might not be ideal for those living without access to one, but the pictures of such gorgeous delicious looking food are worth the images alone.

Covering all sorts of meal times, including both sweet and savoury, as well as gluten free, vegan and paleo recipes, there really is something to suit every taste and diet. It’s very likely to make you very hungry quite quickly.

GimmeSomeOven: Another foodie blog with a more behind the scenes look, while also featuring many a recipe or even just a snap of dinner for some food inspiration. GimmeSomeOven, contrary to the name does not actually require an oven. Ali began her Snapchat life by documenting in delicious detail how to make beef enchiladas and has continued the tasty trend since.

HowSweetEats: Once more, the life of a foodie blogger, but at that a foodie blogger who has released a book. Despite what the name might suggest it is not dedicated to the syrupy and sugary parts of life. Alongside the indulgent desserts are comfort food and healthy-eating recipes, as well as the occasional cocktail or two.

It is advised to avoid looking at these snapchats late at night, during a three hour lab or while shopping as immense hunger and overspending may be induced. However it is also advised to follow them, drool over their content and to let them lead you to other food blogs and foodie based Snapchats.

7

VIDEOGAME news doesn’t often penetrate the mainstream spectrum, but it seems almost everybody has heard whispers of the disaster that was the PC launch of Batman: Arkham Knight. The Batman Arkham “Something” series has become tremendously popular with gamers, being some of the first tie-in products to accurately nail the source material while also being finely executed games in their own right. Naturally there were some weighty expectations resting on the shoulders of the latest instalment to bring the caped crusader into the next generation in flying fashion. And it succeeded – if you were playing on a console that is. However, Warner Brothers had one too many bats in their belfry when launching the game’s PC counterpart and instead released a hideous buggy mess of a game at full price, a move so ludicrous that the resulting consumer outcry compelled them to pull it from sale altogether.

That was in June. Five months later and the game’s been re-released into the PC space.

However, it’s still broken – a little less broken, but still an inferior game to what could have been.

Warner Brothers has resigned in its efforts to fix the game, and are now simply offering refunds to those affected by the debacle. Why can’t they fix the game? The company has been quoted as saying that their resources need to be allocated into producing DLC. While it is unfair to pick on a single game, Arkham Knight is a damning example of what is becoming almost acceptable in the gaming scene.

The games industry has become huge. The evolution of technology has transformed the once cutesy and chipper medium into a platform for unprecedented blockbuster experiences. While this kind of evolution is fantastic, it has also drastically altered the nature by which we consume our hobby. The days of simply blowing on a cartridge, sticking it into a piece of plastic and playing are long gone. Games are a service now. The high cost of production means that publishers are now looking for ways to get us to continually sink money into a game long after it hits the shelves.

And that’s fine – there is nothing to fault in wanting to create ongoing investment in your product, and drumming up fan hype is just marketing. That said, whenever EA comes out swinging with a statement that they are confident in Star Wars Battlefront selling 13 million copies, or Square Enix calling the recent Tomb Raider reboot a failure because it didn’t hit the 6 million mark, one has to worry if the publishers who are responsible for delivering our games are living on the same plane of existence as the rest of us.

The need to make bank on their absurd expectations, as well to make up for how much some of these games cost to make, drives publishers to suck every penny from our pocket at every opportunity. It all results in practices and decisions that are rarely popular with the public.

Objectively, it can be seen as needed to engage in these practices to facilitate the current triple A business model, but it’s all the more indicative that the model is flawed and does more harm than good. Missing a release date, especially in the run up to the holidays, is unacceptable to most publishers. Consequently, games aren’t delayed like they used to be, and developers don’t get the freedom to iron out kinks as much as they’d like.

This is why games like Assassin’s Creed Unity are

8

Arkham Knight and The Current State Of Play

With so many botched releases in the recent gaming scene, Adam Donnelly takes a look at the drop in quality of mainstream titles

released with glitches and bugs so infamous they have become jokes for the entire gaming community. Games being patched after launch is a standard and agreeable procedure but when your €60 game comes with a 15 minute to install update, the moment you take it out of the box, just to make it work as you would expect it to for €60, something is gravely awry.

And who could forget the rise of pre-order culture, the most cynical aspect of the big budget landscape. Seven years ago, pre-ordering a game was simply a means of securing yourself a copy of the game, along with a nifty trinket as the company’s way of rewarding you for your loyalty.

Sure, it was, and still is, basically committing to buying a game before it’s even out and the critics have had their word, but it was nevertheless exciting. Now, pre-ordering has devolved into a scam at the best of times. Publishers have become so carried away with pre-order incentives that they have become less incentive and more of a necessity to experience the full game. It’s not uncommon for precious chunks of gameplay content to be held hostage until you fork over the cash in advance. The theory may be reasonably sound, but if content that is significantly relevant to one’s enjoyment of the game is ready and complete before a game’s launch, there is no justification for withdrawing it from the game.

What’s worse is carving up game content and then making it exclusive to specific retailers, alienating consumers and hindering their ability to be in with a shot of getting the content at all.

And there’s the instances like EVOLVE, where the preorder bonuses were announced before the actual game itself. The insanity of pre-order hysteria reached its peak with the Deus Ex: Augment Your Preorder campaign, at which point consumers said no, and much like the shoddy PC port of Arkham Knight, the campaign was pulled.

The Season Pass is another favourite: splurging huge sums of money on some virtual ticket that later will grant you additional content, again presumably finished and cut from the game for the sake of a higher profit. Will the additional content come? Even that is not secured. That’s what people who bought the Bioshock Infinite season pass learned the hard way after waiting months for the thing to be fulfilled. That would be fine if there was some value in it, as is the case with a game like Borderlands 2. In a lot of cases however, the investment is simply too steep to warrant the actual package. Shining the light back on Bruce Wayne, Arkham Knight’s season pass is a joke. The Red Hood and Harley Quinn DLC campaigns are prime examples of purchasable content that add nothing. In the original age of gaming, they would have been unlockable easter eggs and nothing more.

The triple A industry is mired in the muddiness of corporate shenanigans, now more so than it ever was. For a while, it seemed like players had decided to co-exist with it and jump through hoops for the publishers’ benefit, but thankfully this kerfuffle with Batman: Arkham Knight has awoken gamers and reminded us all once again that this kind of thing is unacceptable, and that when the gaming community comes together, a difference can be made.

First Impressions

Fallout 4, arguably one of the biggest games of 2015, was released this week. Adam Donnelly gives his first impressions on one of the contenders for Game of The Year WAR NEVER CHANGES, and neither do Bethesda’s RPGs. In 2005, developer Bethesda released The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. This game carried with it an RPG formula that worked so well, it would become the base template for all future games of its kind released by the company. As time went on, Bethesda released Fallout 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout: New Vegas, each time tweaking their template and further refining it to attempt to make the best game they could.

Now in 2015 their concentrated refinements have created Fallout 4, Bethesda’s most recent RPG. It’s important to know that Fallout 4 is essentially the same game as Fallout 3, set in a larger area with improved graphics, AI, skill tree progressions and storylines. It’s exactly what fans wanted, which is more of the same, but better. If you’ve played past games in the series, you will immediately feel at home, and Bethesda know this; utilising the slogan ‘Welcome Home’ in their marketing campaigns was completely deliberate. It’s the same gritty universe you’ve grown to love, and Bethesda have invited you to fall in love with it again.

For those unaware, the Fallout series is based in an alternate timeline where, after the detonation of the Atomic Bomb, humanity put their mistakes behind them and embraced atomic energy, harnessing it for its power rather than treating it as a weapon. This leads to an accelerated future where robots and artificial intelligence exist, and everything is powered by atomic energy. Eventually, resources begin to dwindle, and a craving for

power causes an inevitable Third World War, only this time the surface world is blown to oblivion, resulting in the survival of only those who resided in purpose built shelters called Vaults. Each of the numbered Fallout games sees you control one of the surviving members of these Vaults, as you exit them for the first time and begin to explore the remains of what used to be.

This edition of the franchise brings the player to a post-apocalyptic version of Boston. From the moment you exit Vault 111 to greet the outside world, you are met with the sight of the world that will become your sandbox for as long as you want it to be. Immediately, the improvements on previous instalments are noticeable with regards to the environment; husks of trees cut rays of sunlight in a realistic manner, clouds part to make the starry night sky clear, fog encompasses you and rain blocks your field of view. This small addition already adds much more depth to the player experience, making it that much harder to let go of the gamepad.

One of the more anticipated refinements to the game is its crafting system. Previous instalments have had fairly basic methods of crafting incorporated into general gameplay, but for Fallout 4 it has been given a complete overhaul. Literally every item lying about is a tool you can use, whether it’s to be used for modding weapons and armour or repairs. Gone are the days of hoarding

around useless items. See a car? Scrap it for steel. See a Table? Scrap it for wood.

All of these are used when it comes to the apex of Fallout 4’s crafting system: the ability to build your own settlement. This feature is a completely new addition, but acts as more of a mini-game rather than anything conducive to the plot. Regardless, you may very well find yourself spending hours constructing and defending your own settlement, especially if you’re looking for something substantial to keep you occupied once the main quest has been completed.

In terms of actual gameplay, the player is treated to a familiar first or third person combat system (which you can switch between on the fly) that has been overhauled. Shooting feels great; the character animations mimic real-life reactions, and the animations added to each weapon only amplify the satisfaction gained by pulling a trigger. V.A.T.S, the target selection tool that froze time in previous instalments returns in a modified form. Rather than completely freezing time, it only slows it down, which adds a level of urgency and intensity to the process, given that the enemy you’re fighting is still charging towards you. The mix of strategy and utility that this new V.A.T.S encourages is a unique selling point of the franchise, and is a far more satisfying option than shooting in real time, which the player also has the option of doing.

Outside of combat, the player is

treated to one of the best dialogue systems within games in recent years. Overused voice actors are not an issue; Fallout 4 is host to a multitude of different voices, one of which actually belongs to your character for the first time ever within a Bethesda RPG. The only downside to the gameplay is that, as with any other Bethesda game, there are bugs and glitches that will often surface while playing.

This is especially noticeable when it comes to companions, who are still more useful as walking suitcases for extra equipment than allies in battle. Hopefully these will be ironed out with a patch in the future, but past entries in the series indicate otherwise. In any case, glitches like these are to be expected, and they ultimately add to the Bethesda RPG experience. What use is a Fallout game without an enemy being launched 20 feet into the air because of a bug?

It is pleasing to notice that Bethesda have made clear improvements in their storyline crafting. Fallout 3 was known for its head first approach with regards to its main storyline; from the get-go you were on a quest to discover the whereabouts of your father, with the game pushing you in the direction of the main quest and leaving you to your own devices with side quests. Fallout 4 does the opposite: the main quest teases you, painfully so, taking a good two hours before feeding you any substantial information with regards to the main plot. Also, the side quests don’t feel like side quests in the traditional sense; they all feel as if they have links to the main plot, and somewhat influence it depending on their outcome (something that has been

built and developed on from New Vegas’ notoriety system). This is quite a clever move

by Bethesda, as the story slowly encapsulates you to the point where you’ve entered a liminal state, losing track of time and becoming a thrall to the story.

A caveat here to anyone with an active social life, with roughly twelve hours of gameplay covered, Fallout 4 is living up to its expectations as an involving RPG. With an abundance of stories to explore and quests to engage with, as well as your own settlements to look after, Bethesda have crafted the quintessential single player experience. With the power to push it over the edge or rescue it from ruin, Boston is the ultimate sandbox, and is at your mercy.

''A caveat here to anyone with an active social life, with roughly twelve hours of gameplay covered, Fallout 4 is living up to its expectations as an involving RPg.''

9

History, Reality, and Star Wars In light of comments made about John Boyega’s casting in Star Wars, David Monaghan looks at the importance of history and reality in film, TV, and other popular media ON OCTOBER 19th, the trailer for much-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released, and fans worldwide took to social media to express their excitement. Two stars of the film were particularly vocal; John Boyega uploaded an Instagram video of himself jumping over a couch in anticipation and Daisy Ridley had a nice cry. The number of tweets about the film reached 17,000 per minute with the hashtags #TheForceAwakens and #TieFighter trending for hours after its initial airing. Everyone was pleased. Or so it seemed.

A small but vocal minority took issue with Boyega. Not for his performance or his costume or anything to do with the trailer as a whole. No, these people took issue with the fact that he was a black actor in what they considered to be a predominantly white world. Angry white nerds took to social media websites to jumpstart hashtags like #BoycottStarWarsVII. “#BoycottStarWarsVII because it is anti-white propaganda promoting #whitegenocide,” writes one Twitter user. “If white people aren’t wanted in Star Wars, then our money must not be either,” said another. To these people the inclusion of black actors in Star Wars is ‘social justice gone mad.’ They fear that, by making popular franchises multicultural, they will no longer be represented in the things they love.

These fears are unfounded. Never mind the fact that white actors are privileged in the film industry – many white actors have even been cast in roles originally written for people of colour, such as Rooney Mara playing Tiger Lily in Pan – Star Wars has always been multicultural.

The original trilogy featured black actors James Earl Jones and Billy Dee Williams as Darth Vader and Lando Calrissian respectively, and the prequels featured Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi Master Mace Windu.

Of course, it is not only the race of certain characters that these people take issue with. When writer Chuck Wendig released his Star Wars novel Aftermath, another small but vocal minority accused him of propagating the ‘gay agenda’ for featuring queer characters. In response to these critics, Wendig wrote: “You’re not the Rebel Alliance. You’re not the good guys. You’re the fucking Empire, man. You’re the shitty, oppressive, totalitarian Empire. If you can imagine a world where Luke Skywalker would be irritated that there were gay people around him, you completely missed the point of Star Wars.”

The real world is diverse. Ireland and the USA have both recently legalised same-sex marriage, instilling a new confidence in LGBTQ+ people. In 2014, Ireland became the fourth country in the world to celebrate Black History Month as 1.3 per cent of the population is of African origin. It is only normal that creators want to reflect this reality in popular fiction, as these groups are also consumers. The anti-diversity Twitter brigade will claim that blockbuster cinema should be escapist and reject reality, but what they feel to realise is that history and reality are integral to some of the best-loved franchises.

Dominican American writer and critic Junot Diaz, when speaking about representation, said “without our stories, without the true nature and reality of who we are as People of Colour, nothing about fanboy or fangirl culture would make sense… If it wasn’t for race, X-Men wouldn’t exist… If it wasn’t for the history of colonialism and imperialism, Star Wars doesn’t make sense.” Diaz is right. When writing the X-Men series, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were inspired by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, with Professor X acting as a stand-in for Martin Luther King Jr. and Magneto acting as a sci-fi version of Malcolm X. This metaphor was carried into the X-Men film series by Bryan Singer, who also included

10

vague LGBTQ+ themes. X-Men 2, considered by many to be a high point for the series, includes a ‘coming out’ scene in which a young Bobby Drake has to tell his parents he is a mutant. In the comics, it was recently revealed the Bobby Drake is also gay.

When conceiving the Star Wars, George Lucas wanted the Rebel Alliance, the ‘good guys’ of the original trilogy, to have American accents, while the evil Empire had to have British accents. This immediately draws parallels with real world history. At the height of its influence, the British Empire was the world’s largest global power and had control over American colonies. In the film series, the Galactic Empire also destroys multiple planets and people in order to gain more power. The influence of imperialism that Diaz discusses is at the very surface of the film franchise.

Reality is intrinsically linked to Iron Man’s backstory. When “quintessential capitalist” Tony Stark is injured during the Vietnam War he designs a power suit that will help him survive, and early Iron Man stories saw him fighting the dangers of communism. When the character was adapted for the big screen in 2008’s Iron Man, he was transported to the modern day, receiving his injury against the backdrop of the war in Afghanistan.

Real life is integral to the development and success of popular entertainment, and director J.J. Abrams is keenly aware of this. Shortly before the trailer for The Force Awakens aired, he posted an image to his Twitter that read, “We cannot wait to share the trailer with you tonight. I don’t care if you’re black, white, brown, Jawa, Wookie, Jedi, or Sith. I just hope you like it.” What Abrams understands, and what some people fail to grasp, is that popular media is exactly that: popular. It is for everyone, not just a select few. It reflects reality and mimics it. Speaking once again about representation for people of colour, Junot Diaz writes: “Without us as the secret sauce, none of this works, and it is about time that we understood that we are the Force that holds the Star Wars universe together.”

Alex Fegan, director of Older Than Ireland, speaks to Eva Griffin about Lego blocks, pubs, and what he learned from working with centenarians closeness of it or the loss it brings. Though the stories aren’t the most pleasant to hear, the universal resonance lends true lasting power to Fegan’s film, something he became aware of quickly. “One gentleman said about his wife that when she died… he had met her when they were four years of age. They’d spent their entire life together, it was clearly true love. And when we were interviewing him he said ‘When she died, I died.’ And this man’s 104 years of age.

That’s just so remarkable, how can people not be connected to that?”

Though Fegan claims his interviewees weren’t looking to dish out life advice. The filming process naturally became a learning experience, something that is passed onto the audience. “What we realised was that there’s something in common among all the centenarians. They’re all very philosophical without the philosophy. It’s just to do with their attitude. You can’t even identify one particular attitude because initially I thought that the secret to reaching 100 must be that they’re all very positive in life… but then Bessie Nolan says something like ‘Oh somebody’s going to have to just shoot me.’”

When asked to hand-pick just one amazing moment, Fegan is unsurprisingly stumped. “Oh God there’s so many… It’s one of those documentaries where you had preconceptions of what centenarians are like that they’d be very timid or conservative, frail, not very active. And a lot of them were thrown right away. Some of them weren’t conservative at all. Some of them were very adventurous, had a great sense of humour and loved to talk. After the interview we’d come out and have a chat and say ‘Well, what did you think of that? How will it fit in?’ And we’d kind of go ‘Well that was kind of remarkable, wasn’t it?’”

With ventures into period drama and science-fiction already under his belt, Fegan is now turning his lens onto an up-coming comedy, Salt ‘n Vinegar, set in north-side Dublin. His interest in making films isn’t dictated by an interest in a particular genre, he explains. “It really comes down to what interests you at any particular moment. I think if story-telling is story-telling, it doesn’t matter what the genre or area you’re trying to do it in… It doesn’t matter if you’re filming people over 100 or whether you’re filming pubs or whether you’re filming science-fiction; it’s the same principles. You just don’t want to bore an audience, that’s all.”

''It's funny, a lot of the family members never knew these stories. So they were like 'Oh my God her first kiss was in a ditch in Pollerton Big in Carlow.''

IN Photo: ALEX FEGAN Photo: screengrab from OLDER THAN IRELAND

AS A youngster, Alex Fegan spent hours animating entire cities from his bedroom floor. Whether constructing Lego sets or gleaning a different creative power from stationery, he found the building blocks for a budding film career in the comfort of his own home. One would think he grew up in a family of avid film-makers and theatre buffs, but the opposite is true. Fegan seems genuinely confused by his childhood inclination as the interest was by no means inherited. “My dad’s claim to fame is that he’s never even watched a film,” he laughs.

These days, Fegan can’t pin down why exactly he became so enamoured by the art of stop-motion animation.

“That’s just how it began. I just got interested, there’s no rhyme or reason.” Whatever the attraction, the interest never dwindled and, after wandering into a Law degree and a few years in the office, Fegan’s first foray into documentary making saw him leave the desk for good.

The 2013 release of his debut documentary brought a fresh take on the story of Ireland with our institution of the pub as the vehicle. Released to critical acclaim, The Irish Pub swiftly led Fegan to his latest venture, Older Than Ireland, thanks to a conversation that arose during filming. “I was chatting to this guy and he said that he was going to a birthday party of his auntie who was turning 100. Almost immediately the idea kind of clicked that wouldn’t it be interesting not just to film her but to film 30 people around Ireland, especially because we’re now approaching the centenary of the 1916 rising.”

Commemorating the birth of the nation through our eldest citizens resulted in the most Irish of coincidental events. “Initially I was like ‘How the hell are you going to find 30 people over 100?’ as you would. But what we realised was that every person we interviewed knew somebody up the road.” Fegan and his crew meandered around the country being sent from one centenarian to the other in a connect-the-dot map of friends and family.

Filmed between September 2014 and February of this year, Fegan spent most of those months sitting with his subjects in their respective homes to “have a chat”, though he learned from his previous endeavour not to chat too much. “I think what you learn is to keep your mouth shut, which you can probably see is difficult for me,” he laughs.

“When you ask a question, just do not interrupt no matter what.”

From his careful procedure of listening and subtle conversational nudges comes a portrait of Ireland both personal and universal, linking the past and present through the most remarkably everyday tales. “We’d go through their life chronologically, mainly talking about the universal things; their first pair of shoes, first day at school, first kiss, what was their happiest day, their wedding day, their honeymoon, and having children… just the things that everyone would experience, but getting their perspective on it.”

Having scrapped his initial plan to guide the audience through Ireland’s history by decade as dictated by the centenarians’ views, Fegan soon found a more natural approach to the subject. “Very quickly, almost after the first interview, we realised that just wasn’t going to work. What happens is people start to intellectualise events and it takes away from the emotion of it. What we realised was that when they were talking about their own personal stories, it goes deeper, it’s more raw.”

The learning process uncovered by giving a voice to the elderly is shared not just by director and audience, but by the interviewees’ families too. Unheard stories are given voice, and Fegan found the reactions quite comical.

“It’s funny, a lot of the family members never knew these stories. So they were like ‘Oh my God, her first kiss was in a ditch in Pollerton Big in Carlow’. Each of them had their own little stories, so even for the family members it was a jolt to realise just because you’re old doesn’t mean you’re not human.”

Of course, these humorous anecdotes are interspersed with moments of raw human emotion. Having lived such long lives, the theme of death is unavoidable when a centenarian is in front of the camera, whether it be the

11

Director: Francesco Clerici Release Date: 2015, with an exclusive release in the IFI from the 24th November.

Hand Gestures HISTORY is important, and no one understands that more than director Francesco Clerici. His debut feature Hand Gestures is an ode to the manual labour and history associated with craftwork. He films a group of sculptors in the Fonderia Artistica Battaglia in Milan, Italy, as they work on one of artist Velasco Vitali’s famous ‘Off Leash’ bronze Dog Scultpures. In doing so he captures each stage of the process of lost-wax casting in great detail, from early to final design, eschewing narration and music in the process.

The film begins by telling viewers that the lost-wax casting method was developed in the 4th century BC and that, despite advancements in modern technology, the process of production has remained completely unchanged since this time. The film cuts intermittently to archive footage of people using this method to create statues, and the chosen images from decades past match each stage of production in the Fonderia Artistica Battaglia in 2014. Sound effects from the contemporary footage carry over into archive footage as the craftspeople work, making for an engaging way to emphasise the importance of history and intergenerational teaching. The method of lost-wax casting is handed down by generation, so history is important to these craftspeople.

This feature also acts as an ode to craftsmanship and manual labour. Multiple

close-ups of workers’ hands are shown to highlight the grit and grime of their work, and the stages of production of the bronze statue are depicted in meticulous detail.

Without narration or music to break the silence, viewers are made concentrate entirely on the techniques, sounds, and procedures associated with this unique field of work. This never feels like a chore to watch, however, as there is something inherently appealing in watching the project come together. Each stage of production is enjoyable to witness, and when the bronze statue is finally completed there is strange satisfaction in seeing it take its place amongst Vitali’s other pieces.

Without the signifiers of traditional documentary filmmaking (narration et cetera), there is an overbearing sense that we, the audience, are there with the craftspeople as they work. It feels like we have been let in on a secret, like we are bearing witness to a centuries old craft that few know. For this reason, Hand Gestures is an unusually engaging film.

In A Nutshell: Hand Gestures is an ode to manual labour, history, and intergenerational teaching. By eschewing narration, dialogue, and music, Francesco Clerici invites into this world in a captivating way. This is one not to be missed.

DAVID MONAGHAN

CAROL CINEMA is an unusual medium. It can be transformative or evocative, but it is a rare experience to come away from a film with the feeling that something has changed, and you can’t quite put your finger on what. This is the feeling when leaving the cinema after seeing the very powerful and moving Carol.

Director Todd Haynes’ period drama tells the story of a forbidden love affair between two women in 1950s New York. One of the women is older, married with a daughter and wealthy. The other is young and vulnerable, but grows throughout the course of the film.

Carol is as much about their love as it is about the forces that pull love apart. Blanchett as the eponymous Carol thrills with every moment she is on screen. She exudes power in her moments alongside co-star Rooney Mara as she towers over her. She occupies the screen with a certain vivacity; she is commanding yet subtle, seductive yet vulnerable. However there is also the fragility that each move occupies: a flick of the wrist or a tremor of the throat can say a great deal about her character. As Carol, she is inspiring in a role that is surely a career best – a challenging accolade to achieve for the Oscar winning actress.

Rooney Mara is similarly spellbinding. Some of the film’s strongest moments are when the camera lingers on her; she stares steadfastly at Carol throughout with an unwavering and clear gaze. Since her breakout role in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, Mara has blossomed. Her performance in Carol is easily one of her finest to date.

Carol is beautifully filmed, with stunning visuals and

12

wonderful cinematography. The finished piece is perfectly crafted; parts of the film feel obscured, as objects and people get in the way, and extreme close-ups of the faces of Blanchett and Mara give the film an intensely personal feel. Haynes has captured the act of falling in love with a special kind of tenderness and subtlety. Something as simple as a touch on the shoulder takes on a new resonance in the hands of Haynes and his incredibly talented lead actresses.

It is a rare treat to see a period drama so in touch with the relationship it is conveying. Haynes leaves behind the Hollywood trope of allowing homosexual relationships to happen off-screen in favour of bringing this one into the open. The intensity of the relationship is built up throughout the film, before exploding into raw sexuality. It is brave and bold in its honest and endearing depiction of love between two women in an oppressive time and place.

Carol is the kind of film that was made to win awards. Every year they are set loose on audiences with hopeless abandon in the run up to the Academy Awards. Some are good, some are not so good. Carol, however, is an absolute triumph. Subtle direction, engaging acting and beautiful cinematography combine to make this one of the most invigorating films of the year – with career best turns from both Blanchett and Mara, who are stunning on-screen throughout.

In A Nutshell: A stunning period drama, Todd Haynes’ Carol is a triumph of direction and acting.

PATRICK KELLEHER

Director: Todd Haynes Starring: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson, Kyle Chandler.

Release Date: 27th November

Two Thumbs Up: The Importance of Film Criticism Corey Fischer sits down to examine the value of film criticism in response to its detractors OF ALL the arts – theatre, music, painting, literature – perhaps no other is as universal or culturally shaping as cinema in the modern era. And as with every other art form there are experts who devote their time, careers, and expertise on critiquing films. Since emerging as a profession in the 1960s, film criticism has grown with the film industry while still retaining its essential function.

On a basic, simplistic level there are two main types of films: those that are meant to be entertainment, and those that are culturally driven pieces. Films are a visual, interactive display of how we see our own world and give us insight into who we really are. They teach us and warn us and make us aware of things we have overlooked. They entertain us and take us to new worlds and places we could never have imagined. They shape who we are as a society, help us define what is right and what is wrong, and they inspire both positive and negative behaviour. In this way, film is truly a mass art.

Because there are these two basic types of films, two types of film criticism have emerged to respond to them. There is film criticism that evaluates films based solely on their entertainment factor, on how engaging

or funny or scary they are. Then there is cultural criticism, criticism of those films which are more than laughs or explosions. This criticism is vital in linking filmmakers who are trying to do serious, culturally important work – usually those who make documentaries or independent films – and film-goers.

In recent years, concurrent with the rise of social media, many have questioned the value of having a film critiqued and asked why film criticism matters. Many have also bashed film critics for supposedly telling movie-goers how to feel and what to take away from specific works.

The nature of film criticism is to enlighten and enrich one’s experience with the art of film, not to interpret film for them. Just as with any art form’s criticism, film criticism is meant to put elements of specific films into cultural context and give background to the decisions directors, actors, producers, and composers made in making the film. Film criticism is not meant to supplant our individual experiences and feelings gathered from seeing a film, but rather to expand them. This holds true for both types mentioned earlier.

Film criticism is not only meant to help shape how we view films, but also meant to help shape the film industry as a whole. By providing film

experts and gurus an outlet with which to highlight the good and bad of every film, directors and actors can relish in their technical successes and learn from harsh reviews. This is how directors and actors grow, by listening to those who can see past the silver screen and into the heart of a production.

To quote the late great American film critic Roger Ebert, whose decades of criticism work defined the profession and has also given rise to the now universal expression of something being “two thumbs up”, “film criticism is important because films are important.”

How else can we evaluate films without criticism? How else can we value what challenges films tackle head on, what societal flaws they highlight or fears they expose? Is there another way for us to truly appreciate and understand this mass art?

Without criticism, films are devalued and the cultural importance of films and documentaries wanes. We lose sight of the true meaning of any art when it is not fully examined, and film is no exception to this. Through the work of Roger Ebert and scores of his talented contemporaries in the field of film criticism we have learned more about the films we love than any number of trips to the cinema could ever teach us. Film criticism shapes us, and it is not something we should ignore or throw by the wayside.

Top Ten Alternative Christmas Films

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Reindeer Games

Released before Ben Affleck was super-famous and super-buff, Reindeer Games follows an unlucky ex-convict played by Ben Affleck who just wants to enjoy a family Christmas. Instead he’s seduced by Charlize Theron, beaten up by Gary Sinise and forced to rob a casino dressed as Santa.

Black Christmas One of the earliest slasher films and genuinely creepy to boot. Based on the urban legend of ‘The Babysitter and the Clown Doll’ Black Christmas denies the feeling of safety and warmth Christmas brings. There might be footsteps on the roof, but it’s not Santa.

Dancer in the Dark

''By providing film experts and gurus an outlet with which to highlight the good and bad of every film, directors and actors can relish in their technical successes and learn from harsh reviews.''

Christmas comes at the end of this film but it’s not a relief. A tragedy starring Bjork, no less, and only something the most nihilistic of viewers could enjoy at Christmas. Director Lars Von Trier obviously decided the film wasn’t miserable enough and set the ending at Christmas, just for kicks.

Silent Night, Deadly Night Condemned by family

groups and critics not just for its brutal violence but for its brutal violence AT CHRISTMAS?! Silent Night, Deadly Night follows a serial killer Santa butchering those he deems ‘naughty.’ Be grateful this year that it’s the turkey being carved and not you.

Bad Santa An alcoholic, sex addicted, chain-smoking Billy Bob Thornton robs people. Only this time he does it dressed as Santa. Darker than it sounds but still hilarious. Watch it after Christmas dinner, they don’t make Christmas gross-out comedies like this anymore. Well, they never made them, but the point stands.

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang Robert Downey Jr.’s ignored return to

form is the funniest detective movie ever made. It’s a Christmas movie with Val Kilmer as a gay P.I. and several ridiculous twists as well as some unforgettable quotes. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is a Christmas movie like no other.

Die Hard 2 Anyone can put the first Die Hard on a Christmas movie list but it

takes a truly brave writer to put the sequel on said list. Taken to silly new heights, John McClane has to save his wife and Christmas from domestic terrorists. The one-liners might not be as memorable but I’ll take Bruce Willis saving Christmas over Tim Allen any day.

Eyes Wide Shut Stanley Kubrick’s final film and probably one of Tom Cruise’s best roles. An erotic thriller set one snowy Christmas night where a rich, young doctor explores the nature of life, sex and marriage. Eyes Wide Shut is a must for film lovers or those looking for a steamier surprise than lingerie under the tree.

Batman & Mr Freeze: sUB zERO The

swansong of the Batman Animated Series. Though not set at Christmas, it does feature Batman’s snowiest villain. Its focus on the villain’s desperate search to revive his wife gives this film the subtly heart-warming touch so many of today’s Christmas films lack.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Only Tim Burton’s depraved mind could conjure up the idea of combining a Christmas and Halloween film into one glorious mishmash of the two. Following Jack Skellington in his confused plot to celebrate Christmas, Burton weaves horror, romance and festive joy all into one, creating perhaps the most alternative Christmas film ever.

Words: Andrew Carroll

13

these declines as October drew to a close. In Stefan’s mind it had become less plausible that she was unable for socialising as she had always said. He began to wonder if she viewed her own company as more enjoyable than that of her friends.

She sat in the café with them with an expression almost unreadable. The others were used to her long periods of silence, but Tom for the most part thought that he could read her like a book. Yet, today she was hard to discern.

Today her face showed – sadness?

Boredom? Tiredness? And her eyes were either perceiving nothing or looking for something. Today was harder.

“Look at this, it’s cute.” Tom turned his laptop screen towards her, hoping this would rouse some conversation or at least a reaction from her. She looked at the animation that played in the centre of the Google homepage. The words “vida” and “muerte” are embedded in bone. Headstones in rich brown earth and a calavera skull with

beautiful flowers for eyes, timed to

***** sickly sweet Mexican music. She asks what it is for.

The sky was an empty and almost “Dia de los Muertos. The Day of colourless grey, the kind that seeps the Dead.” into your bones, and for the rest of Later she watched the clip the day feels like you are carrying again, this time looking at the lead wherever you go. I have this theory that it always rains when you’re details of Dia de los Muertos.

It is a celebration and joyous going to a cemetery so I brought remembrance of the dead. The an umbrella. I could not handle Mexican tradition does not brush being cold, grey and drenched. Not death aside or continue on despite today. I was amidst a grid of cold, it, but accepts it as part of life. grey death, rows upon rows upon The belief is that the dead come columns upon columns of cold, grey back to their families at this time, headstones. I was sitting beside a and leave on November 2nd. She particular grey death-marker. I had grown too restless to read a book, so I learned also that November does not only mark the day of the began to look around and count how dead, but it is known as Novel many graves had decorations- little Writing month, Pancreatic Cancer windmills or soft toys.

Awareness Month, as well as Lung

A faint clatter of wood Cancer Awareness Month; it also sounded, almost imperceptible to the consciousness. It will not be long contains remembrance for Holy now. It took me a long time to pick up Souls in Purgatory and for those who have died in war. It is a busy the clatter, but I hear it now. Fifteen month apparently, particularly for minutes pass (it gets quicker every writers and the dead. time) before the more pronounced She looked vacantly out the sound of dense rich earth and cold grey stones being frantically scraped window of the bus as it began its journey through Donnybrook. around. Long, slender, dirt-caked fingers poke from the earth. Quickly She continued to stare into space as the bus made a stop outside I knelt beside them. I rolled up my the cemetery. Ever since she had sleeves, put on a pair of gardening gloves (that probably belonged to my first passed it on the bus, she had grandmother) and dig into the ground. thought it hauntingly captivating, Feeling the head between my palms, with its tall black iron gates I pushed down. I push and push until within a pointed stone arch and the slender, dirt-caked fingers cease thin, classic headstones. It was beautiful and old, not like the fighting their way to the surface. kinds of cemeteries she has been to Tom knew by actual count that throughout her life, vast with thick in the last eight weeks she had and shiny headstones with strange declined seven invitations to coffee, four invitations to nightclubs and two cuts and even pictures of the deceased on them. She understood invitations to the cinema. The act of that a lot of thought and money declining social invitations in itself was not unusual for her; in fact, most went into making them unique and representative of the deceased had come to expect it. But Stefan and their impact on the lives of had noticed a marked increase in “Be quiet, your father’s sleeping.”

I crept as quietly as I could up the stairs, but it creaked and groaned with every step. I turn to go to my bedroom but something draws me to my grandmother’s empty room in front of me. I had always admired that room, always silently wished that someday I could claim it as my own.

I decide to sleep in this room instead.

I pry open the door slowly so as not to wake my father in the next room and peer inside. Dark, brutally dark, with that indescribable yet universal geriatric smell that always hung in the room while my grandmother was alive. I pad toward the bed and it occurs to me that it will most likely be unmade, as no one has been in here for many years. I see a mass which I take to be a bundle of bed sheets.

But as I draw nearer I can distinguish it is actually the crumpled, sunken, decayed figure of my grandmother’s corpse.

I am neither frightened nor even surprised. The dead are often in my dreams. I leave to tell my father…

14

others. But perhaps that’s why she didn’t like them. She wanted to be buried in a small cemetery with a plain, thin, grey headstone. She wanted her grave to blend in with the others. No shiny, expensive stone, no fancy shapes, nothing that reflected who she was. If she was already gone, she thought, any of that would be a painful burden, a drain on people’s money and happiness.

She had passed that cemetery countless times since she began college, so much so that she didn’t look up at it now. In the periphery of her vision something was there.

She did not pay it any attention.

Just as the bus pulled off again she raised her head and quickly looked back. She continued looking out the window as if she saw nothing, but this time she was looking for something. She passed a small cemetery again, this one between a Starbucks and an office building in the centre of the busy city. It was much smaller, but it had two simple benches for one to sit among the thin, simple headstones. The bus passed it so quickly that she still could justify pretending that she didn’t see yellowed, brittle skeletons and sunken, pale corpses standing, looking out of the black iron gates.

***** It is dim. I’m underground it seems, with high walls of some kind of off-white stone. Lights from the floor illuminate the people – I first take the shapes to be people before I registered their creamy white skeletons and brightly painted skulls. The empty black sockets were rimmed with reds and blues and intricate swirls and patterns in pinks, yellows and greens covered each forehead, cheek and chin. But they were people once, too. I see my father is suddenly next to me, but he is not like them. He is like me, with flesh and hair and eyes. The calacas carry on conversations and walk around, and I keep expecting one to tell us I don’t belong. None do. I seem to be the only one who knows. I look at my father in disbelief and with the cautious hope that I was wrong.

I woke, first with a glowing relief that I had dreamt something terrible and now I understand that it is not true. But slowly my mind reaches a realisation; I come to acknowledge that the opposite is true, and this comes with a deep and nauseating epiphany that I could never be ready to face.

I was sweating when I reached the cemetery. It was so large I could not make out the figures in the distance of all directions, but it did not matter. I knew now. When I finally got to the grave he was

standing, waiting. I did not know what to say. After seconds of silence I say, “is Melda coming too?”

“No. She died eight years ago.

You’ve accepted her death. The truth is grandparents are just not quite the same as parents.”

I’m startled. “That’s not what you sounded like.” He says nothing. I realise I cannot remember what he sounded like when he was alive. I can feel my eyes beginning to fill with tears, so I hastily begin, “Why are you here? What do you want me to do?”

“Don’t talk to me like that. I am still your father.”

“You don’t speak like that. That is not how you talked!” It did not take long for the tears to pour down my cheeks, but I keep fighting the sobs. It then hits me. “I can’t remember what you talked like.”

I cry. I cry the hardest I ever have.

It’s that kind of crying that feels like something deep within your core is trying to wrench itself out. I sit beside the headstone. He sits the other side and says, “six years this month.” I can’t look at him. All I can manage to ask is why he is here.

“Aren’t you tired of pushing me down, deep in the ground and deep within you, time after time after time?”

And I was. Some things you cannot repress. I spent years pushing death down into the ground but the mud remained on my clothes. Like Lady Macbeth and her bloodstained hands, no matter how much I washed them I could always see the mud on my clothes. Inescapable. Cannot be outrun or outsmarted or simply ignored. The Mexicans have known that for centuries.

POETRY

Mankind?

I.

It was midnight and I lay reeling Painting myself red.

Wondering why the world felt, suddenly Like a cage and not a castle.

I have practiced dying all my life Like a dancer, the poetic pirouette.

I’ll cut so you can’t stitch me up Horizontal – like the line I crossed Were puppets meant to cut their own strings?

These razor-bites are questions I’ve sewn my shaking lips shut This is my mustered eloquence Wet stains on toilet paper Humankind: A Question, posed out of rhyme II.

III.

When did the light behind our eyes Morph, meticulously into black and white?

Our morals like soldiers, lined Neatly, streets stacked with -Corpses, like hedgegrows

It was midnight It was morning I was mourning

For the children with severed hands For the lovers with electrodes and shaved heads For the girls with When did it become blood on their thighs polite to look away?

For Jesus, who thought When did warzones come we might learn to love back into fashion?

Diplomacy the excuse For the ghosts of Mai you cite, credentials Lai Who said it was neat to For the starved with build towers on corpses? numbers on their arms Because those are some For the healers burned shaky foundations in fear For the mothers tied to When did happiness beds become a privilege?

When did constellations For the victims of become stars? justice When did it become all For whiskey’s favourite we could do punching bag not to slit our life open – For the people who little fish? were owned For those who fell off A kiss would push your the buck breath back in you When it stopped here But today it is a crime to love These cuts are A sin to steal a kiss questions Today who we love is a This blood, the reply. label.

We are the martyrs We are the clowns These are our screams This is our blood Can you feel it?

Sticky on your hands.

Emma Tobin

The Cannibal King I have seen his face too often, Whether incubating Or ripe and ready to spawn Mimics who’ll feed him skin And offer their brains.

And offer their beings entire.

Sure the rapists get free By his decree Swinging suitcases like soldiers in the smoke.

Oh but I’m coming for you Oh but I am When nought remains In my heart but black anger, Diamond dense and antler sharp.

Your nightmare crystallises in a puddle of nymph tears.

We are called to his court It sluices forth, By ceaseless caustic whispers steaming and foetal A new-born Hard as monstrosity Chernobyl rain.

Concocted by wood witches His catacomb chest children And the woods are soothe But do not satiate indeed coming to your walls.

So ever more are I’ll scale them with slain. my claws No room on his I’ll crush you in my jaws. bone throne For others.

Alone he sits, Ryan Murphy awaiting none.

Perhaps the dark holes of space are his idols.

Twirling and ravishing stars And rending holes in the cloak of creation.

Towers and tunnels, an empty frame holding us hostage And that skull, senselessly made Of scoured soil and shrapnel.

Conversation on a Country Path

Conversation on a country path So I have come too late to solve the puzzle The unmoved horizon Forever standing in an in between As the strange opposed To the wondrous Which has to be preserved

The tower looks far into Veneration never the distance comes, when the As the tower warden projects finish. leads me away Only rot in your And towards the lung country-path Tumours for the And says “It is young. important not to expect anything Oh he’s a sly one, But another thinking an innovator In every contemplation” A rapist of ice Spilling black The wondrous backens ejaculate back Into itself – the very As he fracks reason why I came them hard. Hardly “That canvas lead to my Themselves unrest anymore, those And I had hoped to virgins, behold it one last time Who became A momentary and quaking eventful encounter with masochists truth A difference between art Pumped with and nature” putrid thoughts.

No conifer A coming too late again knickers To conceal their Sven Kretzschmar modesty.

The Mediterranean Sea Speaks My depths harbour darkness tonight. For my watery womb Cradles too many infants, rendered corpses in a marine tomb.

I trespass in their little lungs, pulling them deeper into my embrace.

My waves hush not their screams, nor wash away Europe’s disgrace.

But still they come, driven by brother desert and his bloodied dunes To cross my turbulent bosom, mourning their beloved Syria’s ruins.

My salty stomach swirls with the debris of a dying nation And her children, with dream drenched souls, a drowned generation.

Your hypocrisies fascinate my stormy mind but forgive me, I forget That you’re a union of equal cultures, not fascists . . . not yet.

I see with my gull’s eyes the white beaches whereon the tourists tan To brown, and brown bodies bloat among my rocks. For the Qur’an And its clan are alien invaders, not families of humans fleeing wars.

Open your hearts or expect more of my grim gifts upon your shores.

I am sworn not to men but sea beasts, so whilst soldiers you dispatch I’ll continue to cough up toddlers for tourists to catch.

Ryan Murphy

15

All Or Nothing Just hours before the launch of Everything Everything’s European tour, Aisling Kraus and drummer Michael Spearman chat stage-side about cavemen, American baptisms and playing for petrol money

16

‘‘INTENSE’’. “Complex”. “Frenetic”. These are just a sample of the vast array of adjectives used by music critics to describe the sonic essence of the genre-eluding four-piece Everything Everything. However, in conversation with Michael Spearman, drummer and one quarter of the band, these words don’t exactly spring to mind.

Seated merely a few metres away from the bustle of activity as the roadie team set up the stage at Dublin’s Academy, Spearman contrasts this hubbub with his relaxed nature. The musician is evidently unfazed by the anticipation of the sold-out show only a few hours away, the first date of 26 during an extensive tour of Europe and the UK. Spearman’s laid-back demeanour in this setting is hardly surprising, considering he has gone through countless pre-gig routines as a member of Everything Everything since the band’s genesis in 2007.

He seems all but oblivious to the activity around him as he articulately divulges thoughts about the band’s past, present and Get to Heaven, their latest, most powerful record yet.

Amongst shimmering synths, infectious bass lines and unpredictable rhythms are the signature falsetto vocals of front man, songwriter and laptop composer extraordinaire Jonathon Higgs. Another of the essential ingredients which identifies Everything Everything’s truly singular style is Higgs’ potent, pessimistic and at times, desperate lyrics. This is as true as ever on Get to Heaven, released in June 2015. Many of its tracks were inspired by current events at the time of the record’s writing, as Higgs took to watching looped news on television during the band’s break from touring in 2014. The result: songs about Ebola, beheadings and missing airplanes. Why does the album’s title convey such outright optimism?

“We were going to go with a lyric, which was ‘give me the gun’ from ‘Zero Pharaoh’ because it’s quite a violent… and angry record,” Spearman points out. “[But] when we brought it to the label they weren’t particularly happy with it, because there are shootings basically every week and things can go wrong if you put out a record at a bad time. Get to Heaven has got this positivity to it, and hopefulness, but it also could be construed as when people do violent acts to reach their heaven, because they think they’re going to be martyrs in heaven. There’s that little meaning to it, but mainly we just like the feeling of it, the hopefulness of it.”

With dance beat-driven tracks ‘Distant Past’ and ‘Regret’ at the forefront, Get to Heaven is an even more danceable record than its two predecessors: 2010’s Mercury Prize shortlisted Man Alive and 2013’s follow-up Arc. This is no accident, says Spearman. “Jonathon was writing a lot of lyrics that were… quite violent, quite angry [and] defiant… That’s fine, but I think that in order to make a record that people will want to listen to, we’ve got to make music that’s got a bit more life and energy and positivity to it. We didn’t want to make a depressed record, and Arc was a little bit too much that way — it’s a bit misanthropic…

We thought it would be nice if people come to our gigs… and could just viscerally nod their heads and enjoy themselves.

We don’t want people to be staring at their shoes, despairing, although you could probably do that if you read the lyrics and thought about them!” he laughs.

In stark contrast to this glimmer of positivity, a chink in the solemn lyrical chainmail, Get to Heaven’s bizarre album art depicts a surreal scene in which a blue cartoon man, it appears, is being grasped at the throat by a pair of deeper blue hands, in front of what looks reminiscent of a sunset. This image evokes more of a sense of frantic desperation than the “hopefulness” Spearman alludes to with respect to the album title. “We hear the record as a very colourful record, but the image itself is meant to be like when people get baptised in America — they look like they’re almost pained by it, even though what they’re trying to do is go to a better place and be rid of their sins. It’s got this kind of agony/ecstasy thing, and I think most people probably see more agony than ecstasy in it, but that’s what we were going for.”

Spearman speaks about Get to Heaven with conviction. Thus far, this has been a constant trend in Everything Everything’s interviews about the most recent record, with Higgs stating in an interview with NME that the new tracks are all “absolutely killer”. Spearman explains, “For this one, we did want to go out there and be confident — in the music, in the lyrics, in how we talk about it — because the last record wasn’t so confident… The songs are better than ever because we’re becoming a better band… It’s not that we didn’t want any subtlety in the album, because there is some subtlety… Actually, we had ‘Warm Healer’ quite early, and some other songs that were a bit more mellow in mood, and we thought, let’s not put them on because we want this record to be quite intense. [We knew it was] going to be divisive, but we’re always divisive anyway. We decided… not to water it down in any way. If anything, we’ve intensified it and

''We decided not to water it down in any way. If anything, we've intensified it and we're quite proud of that.''

we’re quite proud of that.”

One example of this intensity is ‘Distant Past’, Get to Heaven’s most dance floor-oriented track, which is accompanied by a video (directed by Higgs himself, as is the case with all but two of the band’s music videos) in which two cavemen engage in a bloodthirsty head-to-head battle. This is not the first time that Everything Everything’s work has expressed fascination with the primal aspects of humanity and of music. “I play the drums, and I think the drums as an idea have been around as long as man has because you could just hit a log with a bone or whatever. Absolutely, that’s primal, and that’s still what is great about rhythm, even if you’re listening to David Guetta or whatever. If you think about it, what is dancing? Why do we choose to get up and move our bodies around? It’s weird if you think about it, but it’s great. I’m so glad that [it’s] a thing!”

Another recurring theme throughout the Everything Everything discography and video archive is animals, and in particular, human beings as animals. Spearman explains that this is “one of Jonathon’s obsessions — that we are just animals, we just happen to be more advanced. How did that happen? Are we actually better than any of the other animals?

Probably not!” Spearman chuckles. “[If I were an animal] I would be a shark, they’re my favourite animal. We went shark diving a few years ago in South Africa. We flew out really early and straight off the plane we went to get in the sea with some great whites, it was such a strange thing to do. There’s just something about being in awe of something that can kill you and being reminded that you’re not necessarily the top dog.”

The song lyrics and music videos of Everything Everything, particularly on Arc, exhibit an intrigue with the timeline of

humanity on a panoramic scale. Spearman says that “lyrically, Jonathon is really interested in looking at mankind [on] a big scale, but also shifting… from a relationship or something small, the minutiae, and then widening the lens to look at us as a whole scheme of things.” What’s more, the band likes to play around with different eras, both in the story of human beings, and from a sonic perspective. “We put an old gramophone in all of our videos because we like the ideas of not setting things in a particular time. It’s the same with the music; we try to put older sounds with newer sounds and try to put things together, which shouldn’t really work… The idea of future/past gets mushed together. We talk about future/past all the time, or the idea of Star Trek where it’s a ‘60s version of the future. It’s the same with our stage wear, it’s not placed in a particular time.”

Spearman and Everything Everything’s guitarist Alex Niven are originally from Newbrough, while Higgs and bassist Jeremy Pritchard grew up in Gilsland and Kent respectively. The four chose Manchester to be their musical home when starting a band together. With a multitude of majorly influential acts including The Smiths, The Verve, The Stone Roses and Oasis hailing from the city, surely there is huge inspiration to be found there for ambitious new bands. “It affects us in a way that we, in some ways, want to react against it a little bit and try and be different, but all of those bands were kind of radical in their own way, and we really respect that… Tony Wilson, who signed the Happy Mondays and all those bands in the ‘80s, had this sense of radical thinking, of ‘how do we do this differently?’ It wasn’t

money-driven, it was more, ‘let’s try and do something different and make our own scene in Manchester rather than everyone going to London’. We’re so glad that that’s still in the air, and that [Manchester] has that legacy to it.”

According to Spearman, one’s environment can significantly impact music in other ways, too. “I can see why Joy Division and all that lot wrote the songs they did, living in Manchester now, because it is raining all the time, and grey and sometimes depressing. Equally, I think good pop music comes out of those sorts of situations. If you look at Europe, a lot of those sunnier places… don’t really produce great pop music, but Sweden does, because it’s a similar climate, because people would rather be inside making music than outside playing beach ball.”

It’s no secret that Everything Everything haven’t always claimed as much limelight as they have done of late, and that their success didn’t happen overnight. The four members frequently speak openly about struggling to gain recognition in the band’s early days, playing to dishearteningly small audiences just for the petrol money to reach the venue.

In spite of these difficulties, Spearman claims that given the chance to go back, he wouldn’t do anything differently.

“I think we were really lucky because we’ve now got to see every single scale of things. We get to play in arenas — not our own shows but we still know what it’s like. We’ve played most of the festivals. We’ve seen it from the smallest venues, driving in our car, all packed in… to being on a sleeper bus and doing the rock star thing. A lot of bands, unfortunately, miss out on the first few years where you’re getting battle-hardened with arriving somewhere and the gear is terrible and you can’t hear anything, because that makes you a better band. If you just suddenly have a hit on the radio and then you’re playing massive venues, it’s great, but you miss out on becoming a band, in a sense. That’s why some of those bands don’t necessarily last the course; they don’t realise what hard work means sometimes, and it’s important.”

It’s clear that Spearman believes that bands have more important things to consider and strive towards than racking up digits and being at the top of the charts. He offers Arcade Fire as an example of a current, mainstream act that has triumphed without churning out megahits. “I think [they] have done a really great job [despite] not being on the radio that much, at least over here: not having huge hit singles, but playing huge gigs and having their own identity… They know what they stand for, and they say no to things, they do some really cool stuff without ever being too esoteric or too elitist. They’re a really big band [who] do it on their own terms and I have a lot of respect for that, because it’s very, very difficult to do.”

In our time of leaks, free streaming and pirate downloads, many artists are resigning themselves to the reality that the days of making millions from record sales are all but dead (unless, of course, your name happens to be Adele Adkins). Spearman appears to agree with this school of thought, but admits that he and the rest of the band pay little heed to the attendant figures, for fear of becoming too heavily influenced by them. “There’s room for Spotify, and [streaming] probably is the way things are going to all be going… but we don’t look at the numbers that much.

Other people do, our manager tells us some numbers, and we go ‘great!’ We don’t want to be looking, and saying: ‘which is the most popular song? Let’s do another song like that!’ — that’s the danger of looking too much at those kinds of statistics, because second-guessing yourself is quite a dangerous thing.”

Get to Heaven is out now.

Photographs courtesy of PROBATION and DIY Magazine

17

Nothing In Their Way

Nothing But Thieves singer Conor Mason talks to Christopher Seeley about the Essex band’s recent debut album, touring with superstars and why he prefers doing some things the old fashioned way NOTHING BUT THIEVES Photo: COURTESY OF RCA RECORDS THE LAST THREE years have been a tumultuous journey for Nothing But Thieves. Having started up in Essex, England back in 2012, Conor Mason, Joe LangridgeBrown, James Price, Dominic Craik and Philip Blake have undoubtedly come a long way. They have gone from performing in sold out venues in the UK and Ireland to trekking across mainland Europe; no mean feat for a group who began in a garage.

“When you look back on things, what we’ve done in the past year, it’s been amazing. We’ve done a bunch of awesome things and had opportunities that most kids could never dream of,” Mason says. “We’ve always seen what we’ve achieved in a steady sort of way, but we prefer to look forward, which I think is better for your mindset.”

The band’s first album was finally released on 20th October 2015, after a writing process that lasted two years. What began in Dominic’s garage, the band’s eponymous debut album, is already attracting rave reviews, some labeling it the most innovative album of 2015. This innovation and uniqueness is something that Mason finds crucially important to the development and production of their music, and to their success to date. “There are so many bands out there doing things that people have already done over the past ten or twenty years. I think the important thing is to be different and to find something that no one else is doing and really hone in on it, and make it your own.

We worked really hard to find something that no one else is doing... We tried to go down that avenue and work on that.”

The soft melodies of ‘Graveyard Whistling’ are complemented by a solid bassline and outstanding vocals. They achieve a similar effect in ‘If I Get High’, in which a steady drum beat grounds a more soulful,

18

Zane Lowe and Fearne Cotton. “They that the band loves to do, and they enjoy pensive composition. These, however, and the reaction from fans everywhere they go. both championed us, and that really the band’s acclaimed single ‘Itch’, which “Probably the maddest venue we’ve played helped. That’s cool because for us has accumulated well over one million was Warsaw, in Poland, where we played the that’s really sort of old fashioned... views on YouTube, are irreconcilable. The The radio plays you and everyone has Palladium with Gerard Way. It was our first album brings a terrifically diverse range European tour, and we didn’t really know what heard you.” of sounds that is a refreshing push for this This old-fashioned approach is to expect, but their fans were insane. That gig genre. Another popular hit, ‘Excuse Me’, not just relevant to promotion, and was just so good!” was the first song written by the band to Fans are clearly important to the band, and extends very obviously into the band’s showcase Mason’s incredible solo falsetto Mason enjoys the variety of listeners that they style of writing and musicianship, voice, which would go on to be featured in and thus, into their debut album. attract. “We have a really eclectic fan base. later tracks.

The young fans, maybe from 15 to 21 are crazy Talking about it, Mason sounds excited, The five-piece band released their first clearly passionate about what they’ve on social media and they’re sharing us and single and EP in 2014, followed up by an will post and post and post. But then you have done. “Our biggest influence was Jeff exclusive Spotify live-session mini-album the older fans too, who just hear about gigs Buckley. The album really does stream in 2015. Nothing But Thieves’ achievements on a classic rock front - we’re so into from their mates.” inside the studio are almost overshadowed that sound, we can’t help it! Obviously Mason is an advocate of the “word of by their achievements outside. They’ve mouth” method, and while embracing social though, there are a lot more modern toured Europe twice now, performing with media, he prefers the old-fashioned method elements thrown on top, because you monumental figures in the industry such as Muse, Gerard Way, Arcade Fire and George '' There are so many bands out there doing things Ezra. These are milestones that that people have already done over the past Mason definitely ten or twenty years. I think the important thing doesn’t take lightly. is to be different.''

“The Muse thing... That was 40,000 people. I struggle for words with that - it of playing gigs, getting radio play and selling wouldn’t listen to it and immediately was dazzling. There were so many people albums. Radio play in particular played a big think it’s a classic rock record.” He’s getting involved and they really liked us. role in Nothing But Thieves’ success. The band right, but when you listen closer to songs like ‘Ban All The Music’, featuring We sold out all of our Italian shows because was promoted heavily by BBC Radio 1 and bombastic guitar riffs, or the driving of that!” Touring is clearly something Radio X, receiving support from DJs such as

beat in ‘Hostage’, a flair reminiscent of the ‘80s permeates.

The full two-year period of developing the album and their own unique sound may have started in Dominic’s garage, but it took a fortuitous trip abroad to unleash their full potential and kick start their careers. “With the same white walls, it plateaued a bit. Our managers, who live in LA, offered for us to visit America for a little bit. We basically just… learned the music industry, learned about writing songs, the craft, and producing. We came back and we were wiser for that trip. We came back and the first four songs we wrote formed the EP. It was so beneficial, just to get a fresh perspective, a new head on our shoulders.”

Twelve songs and a lot of work later, the band released their debut album. They’ve just kicked off their own headlining tour of the UK and Europe, and are hoping to target America and Australia next. Mason speaks of the unpredictability of the music business, but with this mix of classic rock instrumentation, soulful vocals and more modern effects, Nothing But Thieves should only continue to flourish.

Nothing But Thieves play Dublin’s Academy 2 on Saturday 28th November. Their self-titled debut album is out now.

Grimes

Ellie Goulding

Art Angels

Delirium

CLAIRE Boucher is a master of controlled eccentricity. Her pastel-coloured hair, decidedly macabre artwork and dreamy, diffuse music marked her out as a unique prospect from the start. 2012’s Visions showed her at the peak of her lasting powers, but then came news of an album’s worth of material thrown away after her single ‘Go’ got less than ecstatic reviews.

She maintains that scrapping her album had nothing to do with fan’s reaction to ‘Go’, it was that the music simply wasn’t good enough. Art Angels effortlessly proves this, and she remains resolutely unapologetic.

‘Flesh Without Blood’ is the album’s first single and reads like a love song, but with a twist suggesting it’s for both fans and critics alike: “It’s nice that you say you like me / But only conditionally”. This song is a pure pop night-time cruise, and the emotional directness of pop is a sweet ingredient much-appreciated in her new music, especially when used as a wounded backhand to false followers.

Seeing pop through the eyes of a Garage Band visionary is never dull; ‘California’ is an interestingly textured, extremely catchy romp given the Grimes spin with lyrics that lie in stark contrast to the country spring of the music. Elsewhere there is a sense of a creative struggle; the structure and accessibility of pop don’t quite mesh with her airy delivery on tracks like ‘Easily’ and ‘Pin’, and the title track is electro-funk startlingly generic enough that it’s believable that it was purely an exercise intended to flex production muscles.

However, these points are probably all moot considering how Grimes handles every aspect of this remarkable album as an experiment, and there are moments that explore the genius in their madness. ‘Venus Fly’ laughs in the face of structure and boasts a robotic drop Janelle Monae would blink affirmative to, and ‘Kill V. Maim’ is so lovably unhinged that being a gender-switching vampire version of Al Pacino sounds like the least strange thing you could imagine when engrossed in the world of Art Angels.

ELLIE Goulding’s vocal style is put to some misuse on the opening track to her album of the same name, ‘Intro (Delirium)’. The airiness that segues into track two is an almost-two-minute waste of time. It would have been much more dynamic and apt to simply open the album with the energy of ‘Aftertaste’.

If an artist’s selling point isn’t vocal virtuosity, something else needs to be brought to the table.

Sadly, Delirium seems to have brought half the music industry to the table. The abundance of powerhouse producers on the album is impressive but not necessarily conducive to making a memorable record. Though it is undoubtedly polished with top-notch production values, Goulding’s distinctive fairy-like voice is lost in this as every track blends together— it is increasingly difficult to tell the songs apart.

The guitar intro of ‘On My Mind’ shows some potential by creating a different vibe from the previous four tracks. Goulding has even tweeted saying that it is the most important track to her.

But any potential is short-lived; its successor, ‘Around U’, is saccharine and would be more age-appropriate as a high school teen pop song than that from an album of a 28-year-old already-successful pop star. Goulding’s ‘Love Me Like You Do’ from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack is probably one of Delirium’s best moments. The trouble is, she loved it so much that she ripped off her own song — the chorus of ‘Something in the Way You Move’ is almost indiscernible from that of the former, if you aren’t paying attention.

Goulding has a lovely voice and is a proven hit-maker. Unfortunately, every song on Delirium makes a stab at being a hit and all the duty-free alcohol on the shelf couldn’t make anyone dance for the entire album. It would have been more effective to give the club bangers a rest to really show off Goulding’s voice with a softer and/or slower song or two.

In A Nutshell: Grimes takes her fairy-pop game to the next level on an insane and involving must-listen.

Adam Lawler

In A Nutshell: If you are an Ellie Goulding fan, Delirium is the perfect pre-drinks soundtrack, but if you’ve never listened to her, don’t start now — you’ll be subjected to more Ellie than you’ll even realise in da club.

Amanda Cheng

Kurt Cobain Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings MONTAGE of Heck: The Home Recordings is the much hyped sonic companion to Brett Morgen’s documentary, Montage of Heck, released earlier this year. While the film distinguished itself from other ventures in condensing the life of Kurt Cobain as an unfiltered portrait of the deceased Nirvana frontman, the accompanying soundtrack isn’t as trailblazing.

Available in a standard 13 track format of solely musical demos and a deluxe behemoth of 31 scraps ranging from the bizarre to the sleep-inducing, it’s unclear what Morgen hopes to gain from making these dregs of Cobain’s musical endeavours publicly available. The obvious answer would be to soak up some extra pocket money from the fleeting presence of Cobain’s ghost, as even the most hard-core fans will be disappointed with this scrambled compilation.

Unearthed from a musty box of old cassette tapes, this collection acts as an uncomfortable sideshow to the cult of Cobain, adding an attempt to humanise the icon to the myth. The potential ‘insights’ offered by the slim pickings among these home recordings are uninspiring at best and voyeuristic at worst. Between anguished yodelling, exercises in fingerpicking and 32 seconds of mind-numbing screams, there’s very little of value among Morgen’s findings.

Demos of ‘Been A Son’, ‘Sappy’ and an unsettling cover of The Beatles’ classic ‘And I Love Her’ provide welcome breaks in an endless tirade of distorted nonsense, cartoon voices and, most bafflingly, fart noises. While some early recordings allow the listener to trace Nirvana’s roots from Cobain’s fumbling to their raw Pixies’ inspired sound, similar nuggets of the frontman’s formative genius are already available on 2004’s With The Lights Out box set.

Overall, the title of album is a stretch for this mixed bag of scraps. Rather than illuminating some hidden fragment of the long-departed Cobain, Morgen’s compilation sounds like a desperate bid to squeeze the last dollar from the Nirvana machine. If anything, listening to the album in its entirety will force you to revisit Nirvana’s entire back catalogue to wash out your ears.

In A Nutshell: The exploitation of the Cobain myth has entered the realm of absurdity with this unnecessary addition to the posthumous money making industry.

Eva Griffin

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Paper Maché Dream Balloon PAPER Maché Dream Balloon comes as a bit of a surprise. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s most recent record, Quarters! featured longer, tighter songwriting, a more acute reliance on production values and more heavily synthesised sounds.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have opted for a thoroughly different approach to this album as this record is devoid of any histrionics. They make use of a much more limited body of instruments and feature shorter, more digestible songs. Semi-acoustic guitars, flutes, harmonica and sitar dominate the airwaves on Paper Maché Dream Balloon.

The more rustic feel of these instruments are complemented by crisp snare sounds, playful shakers and adventurous fills creating a musical experience of Magical Mystery Tour’s ilk. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s reverence for the The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour becomes immediately apparent from the art style they’ve opted for the album cover.

The brisk tempo of Paper Maché Dream Balloon unifies the album, as songs seamlessly fall into one another, as if the songs themselves are just an extension of one the album’s cavernous fills.

The eponymous ‘Paper Maché Dream Balloon’ and ‘Most of What I Like’ evokes the playfulness that we have come to associate with the Beatles post-India, while tracks like ‘The Bitter Boogie’ and ‘N.G.R.I.’ (Bloodstain) display a certain reverence for The Kinks and the Yardbirds, as the sound vacillates between twelve-bar blues and psychedelic pop.

The familiarity of this record is at first endearing and innocuous, however by the end of the album the listener is left wanting. There is a homogeneity to this record which hampers as much as it adds to the experience. Although largely playful and fun in tone, Paper Maché Dream Balloon is nowhere near as gratifying or as rewarding as any of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s earlier records nor of the greats they seek to emulate.

In A Nutshell: Despite predominantly being painted with the one colour, Paper Maché Dream Balloon is as fun as it is familiar.

Harry Ó Cléirigh

19

GIG GUIDE Aisling Kraus gives the lowdown on the highlights of the Dublin gig scene in the coming weeks

Radar: TabloidTv Corey Fischer chats with the five students who make up TabloidTv about fan reactions and radio airplay in France

SAINT RAYMOND Photo: COURTESY OF ROBMORO.IE

San Fermin / The Workman’s Club / Saturday 21st November The invention of Yale alumnus, composer and songwriter Ellis Ludwig-Leone, San Fermin is a unique eight-piece “touring enterprise” based in Brooklyn. The band was born out of a single concert in 2012, organised by Ludwig-Leone to showcase some new compositions and ultimately leading to an instant record deal. They have since produced two albums filled with a captivating blend of orchestral instrumentation and swooping classical arrangements with perky pop elements and thoughtful, emotive songwriting. Ludwig-Leone and San Fermin have received rave reviews for performances both inside the recording studio and on the stage, which have earned them supporting slots for stellar names including St. Vincent and Arctic Monkeys.

Saint Raymond / The Academy / Wednesday 25th November Nottingham-born indie pop singer-songwriter Callum Burrows blasted his way into the music industry under his nom de musique, Saint Raymond, at just 18 years of age, when his Escapade EP was released on Gabrielle Aplin’s label, Never Fade Records. Burrows’ gigging routine rapidly took a leap from low-key local shows and open mics in Nottingham to opening for such major acts as HAIM and Aplin herself, backed by a band. His unusual merging of uber-catchy, summery acoustic guitar hooks with Afro-beat rythms and often sombre lyrics earned the support of BBC Radio 1’s Zane Lowe. Saint Raymond’s debut album, Young Blood, was released in July 2015.

Dune Rats / The Academy 2 / Thursday 26th November Three-piece garage rock outlet Dune Rats have been creating a noisy stir on the thriving Australian alternative rock scene since their formation less than five years ago. In this time, the trio released three EPs and two singles with Inertia Access before releasing their self-titled debut album on their own Ratbag Records label in 2014, supported by extensive

20

TabloidTv PHOTO: COURTESY OF TabloidTV’S FACEBOOK PAGE

Australian and global tours. Their tongue-in-cheek, stoner-esque track names, lyrics, album art perfectly suit their sunny, sloppy, guitar-driven tunes and smirky vocals: ideal headbanging material.

O Emperor / The Sugar Club / Thursday 26th November Irish five-piece rock unit O Emperor saw its early days as yet another school-boy rock band. The members honed their performance skills early, playing pubs and clubs in their native Waterford city. The band wrote, self-recorded and produced their debut album, Hither Thither, released in 2010 on Universal Records Ireland, and the record was subsequently nominated for Irish Album of the Year in the Choice Music Prizes.

This was followed up by a sophomore record in 2010, and numerous Other Voices appearances. March 2015 saw the release of new EP Lizard. O Emperor embody a variety of alternative rock styles, at times acoustic and mellow, and in other tracks employing the use of synths and heavy psychedelic guitar distortion.

East India Youth / The Button Factory / Thursday 3rd December William Doyle’s music career began with selfdescribedly “tweedy” indie band Doyle & the Fourfathers. Finding himself growing less inspired by guitar music, Doyle turned to electronica to launch a musical rebirth leading ultimately to the origins of East India Youth. The Bournemouth, UK-born artist and producer released his dramatic, game changing debut album Total Strife Forever on Stolen Recordings in early 2014, only to be nominated later that year for the 2014 Barclaycard Mercury Prize Album of the Year Award.

''People always come up to me after gigs and contact us on social media and love to hear about the band, no matter where we're playing.''

CHANNELLING the famous sounds of The Smiths and The Strokes with their own smooth, catchy songs, Dublin-based indie band TabloidTv have been making a name for themselves. This is especially important in a genre where recognition means everything, and they’ve been doing it in their own unique way.

The group features three of UCD’s own homegrown musicians: Ian Rankin on rhythm guitar, Ultan Murray on drums, and his younger sister Moninne taking on bass guitar and vocals.

Lead vocalist Mark Young and lead guitarist Senan Dobey round out the band.

Originally a group for friends to just hang out and jam, TabloidTv has picked up steam in the past year and played gigs at The Workman’s Club, Opium Rooms, the Grand Social, the Ballinamore Fringe Festival, and even a slot at Whelan’s.

The group also won recording time in a studio contest and have been able to write and record their debut EP, Mixed Messages. Not only has a track from the EP, ‘Let’s Dance’, received airtime here in Ireland, but it was also featured by a radio station in France. This international profile has, of course, only served to increase the band’s

popularity.

In spite of this, being a true indie band has made this process a difficult one. “Straight off the bat things were harder for us. We actually had to figure out how to get our songs out there, and we called local DJs we thought would be more likely to feature up-and-coming bands,” Ultan Murray explains. “Some liked our music and played it, others didn’t. But the French station? We’re not too sure how that happened, they kind of just picked us up one day.”

With multiple gigs in well-known venues across the area under their belts, the group has had their fair share of fan experiences and couldn’t be happier with the public response to their music.

Moninne Murray says that “people always come up to me after gigs and contact us on social media and love to hear about the band, no matter where we’re playing.”

With no manager and no label at the moment, the quintet are very much on their own but not at all deterred by the challenges they face. “It’s a lot of work but we’re getting by, playing gigs, writing new music, all of it.” says Ultan. “We’ve been looking at all our options when it comes to

managers, and hopefully when we get one we’ll be able to do more than we’ve already done.”

With even their writing style being something that, according to the band, “just usually happens on its own and comes together,” the story of TabloidTv so far seems to be just that: something that’s coming together and constantly growing.

Right now their plan seems to be just to see what happens and maybe try and expand their profile through bigger festivals such as KnockanStockan or Electric Picnic. Be sure to keep an eye on this emerging talent as they chart their own path in the Dublin scene.

You can check out TabloidTv’s music on Facebook, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, and YouTube.

Light In The Darkness Gabrielle Aplin PHOTO: COURTESY OF NOTION.COM

Singer/Songwriter Gabrielle Aplin takes some time aside to speak to Patrick Kelleher about her musical influences, touring, and being happy with her new album GABRIELLE Aplin has been something of an anomaly in the music industry over the last number of years.

Her career has blossomed in the most unassuming of ways. Growing up from her folk-pop roots, things have more than snowballed for Aplin: they’ve exploded.

This began when, at only 21 years of age, her cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘The Power of Love’ skyrocketed to number one in the UK charts. Things have only gotten better since. She has flexed not just her vocal muscles, but also her songwriting ones too, perhaps most notably with her recent album Light Up The Dark. Her folk-pop, experimental style was born from an eclectic list of musical influences, which Aplin recounts with a sense of awe still.

“I love Joni [Mitchell], she’s kind of my biggest inspiration really,” she says. “I also love Nick Drake...

Through most of this album, I was listening to a lot of Arcade Fire and The National, and a lot of bands like that, so yeah, a big mix.”

Music wasn’t always the central ambition for Aplin, however. “I was painting, that was like my thing I was doing even before I was writing or singing, and I loved creative writing and poems, and then I kind of taught myself piano. And then I realised I could put the two together when I saw that Joni Mitchell was writing poems and then singing them, and then making her album artwork. And I was like ‘Oh, this is something that I want to do!’”

When this realisation hit, it hit hard. At 17 years of age, Aplin was ready to start on a journey, albeit one that she didn’t yet understand. “I didn’t really consider what I’m doing now as an option really,” she says.

“Not that I didn’t want to, I just didn’t really expect it to happen, and I just didn’t really know what I was doing. I wanted to learn about the industry, and I was thinking maybe songwriting for other artists, or kind of working within a label and developing artists, and then I became one! That’s kind of how it happened, I was just taking the opportunities that came my way, and now I’m here.”

For Aplin, singing is clearly a joy; it shines through on Light Up The Dark, where she seems at ease, an artist who is truly enjoying the chance to be heard.

However she is adamant that songwriting is central to what she does, something which isn’t as easy as it sounds.

“What kind of inspires me is that I can’t just go ‘right, I’m going to book a studio between 12-4 tomorrow and I’m going to write a song, and that’s where I’m going to write it’, because sometimes I just can’t. Some parts of the day, I’m probably the worst songwriter in the world, and I don’t know how to do it.

And then suddenly I can write a song in half an hour, and I’m like ‘Oh!’, and that can happen at any time. So I don’t really know when or what is going to inspire me

to write. I suppose in terms of what inspires me to be a performer and a storyteller in a way, is those artists within the kind of 60s and 70s folk revival during the kind of revolution and everything, they were writing about social things. Like Bob Dylan writing about Vietnam, and John Lennon writing ‘Imagine’, for example, all those amazing songs that were for people. I love hearing about those stories... People don’t really write about social things anymore, and I think that’s really good, and people are starting to do it again; write songs that can actually do things.”

Touring is undoubtedly something that she is in love with, and she is keen to stress how much she enjoys performing for her fans. However it also has its strains. “I mean in the UK you can do it on a bus, or you can kind of go to sleep at a normal time and just wake up in a city you’re playing in, and it’s a lot of travelling but that’s easy,” she says. “But it’s more difficult in a place like Australia where you have to fly every single place you’re going. So yeah, I mean it’s different most places. I find flying is quite hard anyway. Because you’re only really playing for an hour and a half each day, and then it’s just kind of waiting around.”

Despite the stresses and strains of flying from one continent to the next, there is a veracity, but also a looseness to performing that she adores.

Aplin lights up when she speaks of her recent show at the Village Underground in London, which she describes as one of her favourite live experiences.

She explains how a rocky rehearsal had everyone convinced that the evening was set to be a disaster.

“Everyone thought it was going to be cancelled because I couldn’t make it through a song without having a coughing fit. I was really ill. And everyone was panicking, and then we went on stage and it

was probably the best show of the whole tour, we don’t really know how it happened.”

Alongside her music career, Aplin has also recently begun a tentative career in modelling.

However she is keen to stress that it is not central, nor will she allow it to compromise her status as an artist. “I wouldn’t just do a campaign just to take money,” she says. “I find it quite a weird thing, I mean I only really do things that will tie in with the fact that I’m a musician, and will highlight the fact that I’m an artist.”

Next up for Aplin is promoting the varied and eclectic mix of music that appears on Light Up The Dark through touring. On the morning that Aplin spoke to OTwo, it had just been announced that her Dublin show in February had been upgraded from Whelans to the Olympia due to high demand. “Yes! Really, really happy,” she shrieks with excitement when the upgrade is mentioned.

Things are on the rise for Aplin. At only 23 years of age, her musical repertoire and touring experience is something to be reckoned with. Right now, however, she is trying to keep combining hard work with the satisfaction of having made an album she is really happy with. “The main thing that I’ve kind of wanted to is just make an album that I’m really happy with and see where that takes me. And I’ve been able to do that,” she says. And if an artist can be entirely satisfied with their work, then what else can they ask for?

Light Up The Dark is out now. Gabrielle Aplin will perform in the Olympia Theatre in Dublin on February 20th.

21

Prior to the recent release of their debut EP, Morgan MacIntyre and Gemma Doherty, known collectively as Saint Sister, speak with Adam Lawler about the development of their sound and career

Sisters in Harmony Photo: Via SAINT SISTER BANDCAMP

''We're not trying to create anything in particular.

We just want to keep going.''

22

EVERYTHING is happening quickly for Saint Sister.

Formed in November 2014 after meeting as students in Trinity College, Gemma Doherty and Morgan MacIntyre have been busy ever since. A support slot for Dublin-based band Spies resulted in an ongoing string of gigs supporting Irish bands such as O Emperor and Wyvern Lingo, which in turn has led up to the release of their debut first EP Madrid. If there is a sense of head-spinning upward trajectory, then it’s not present in the music. The songs teased so far unfold gracefully over a bed of harps and synths; these two know their sound, and it is astonishingly accomplished considering the short incubation period.

Before speaking to OTwo, they’ve been preparing costumes for their first music video. One would wonder if they’ve stopped to take a breath all year. When asked about the recording of the EP, they make it clear that the answer is a resounding no: “That was our only three weeks off in the whole year so we were ready when we went in there, we had all the tracks sitting ready to go,” says Doherty. MacIntyre chimes in: “We recorded it on Gemma’s wee computer in our rehearsal studio so we tried to build it up to what it would be like before we went in.” This preparation meant that they could record the EP in a period of just three weeks with producer Alex Ryan, who has worked with Hozier and whom the duo met in college and was, they say, “very perceptive to what we wanted”.

Attention to detail is evident in the music.

Frequently dubbed “atmosfolk”, their sound draws from both late-night urban electronica such as James Blake and Jessie Ware, and also Celtic music, for its “haunting and spooky” atmosphere more than anything. MacIntyre grew up in Donegal living above a pub, and has fond memories of “pressing our ears to the floor to hear all the different kinds of music”. Although traditional music is only present in spirit, the pair has adopted its philosophies when playing the songs live.

“We try to use all the instruments at our disposal to recreate the sounds we created in the studio. One of our main obsessions is playing it all live, because there’s a difference between having a sound that you’re generating and having a backing track,” says Doherty. “It helped that we were both solo artists, so although we’re relatively new as a band… we both knew what we did that wasn’t working for us. We made a lot of the mistakes you would make as an early artist and hopefully we’ve swept that under the rug!”

The duo are surprisingly reflective of their journey so far, saying that there is “no one path” to success.

Right now, though, the excitement is palpable.

“We’re just looking forward to people hearing our music. We‘re getting the actual physical product in our hands next week and I think that‘ll be a really nice moment to have in our hands what we’ve spent half the year creating.” Despite the involving recording process the pair say they are now at the stage where they can see the EP as a whole, and it is clear that there is an overarching theme in Madrid. “Each song has its own narrative, but this EP in particular as a whole happens to touch on loneliness a great deal,” MacIntyre says. “I for one am completely incapable of being alone; I always want someone around me, and the only time I write is when I’m alone because I’m going out of my mind. When you’re with someone you can be alone and if you’re in a crowd of people you can still be alone. It’s not that we wanted to make an EP about loneliness,” they laugh, “it’s just what was coming out at the time.”

There is certainly a pervading sense of melancholy, even in the name of the work. Neither of them have been to Madrid and this succinctly sums up the main idea; “the songs are all about ‘the grass is always greener’, the place you want to go and the person you want to be with is always there in your mind but it isn’t necessarily the best situation.” This can be seen in the title track’s lyrics: “I’m glad I don’t know where you go when you’re lonely / I would only meet you there” they sing in unison over a

sparse beat and their voices looped, repeating “ah, ah”, over and over in a sad accompaniment.

The effect is powerful.

“Madrid could be anything; it’s the dream, it’s the reverie. In this case it’s Madrid but it could be anywhere, it could be Dublin or Belfast, it’s just a place where you’re not that you most definitely want to be, for better or for worse. Sometimes the busiest and most beautiful places are the most lonely… That’s a strong feeling I always have, and I think it’s quite an Irish phenomenon.” There is an undoubtedly Irish sensibility inherent in the band; not just in the subtlety and grace of the music but in this sense of displacement that runs throughout. Despite this, there’s no doubt that Saint Sister have their feet planted firmly on the ground as they look ahead with hope.

“We’re growing through every song, there’s no template there, we’re not necessarily trying to create anything in particular,” Doherty says.

“We just want to keep going. That’s the idea of an EP, that you release music when you decide you have music that you want to release. We’re in that stage now when we’re absolutely dying to write again because we’ve been so wrapped up in the first EP. We’ve only written like 8-10 songs together and we’re just really looking forward to seeing where it’ll go from here. We’ll see soon enough I guess.” MacIntyre agrees. “We’ll get back to you on that one,” she says wryly.

There’s no doubt about that. Saint Sister are accomplished musicians, wise and reflective in a typically Irish way, and have a knack for songwriting that captures their talent for emotional storytelling. It will be interesting to see how the release of Madrid widens their universe from here.

Madrid is out now.

Genesis of a New Genre

JORGE Mario Bergoglio, otherwise known as Pope Francis, is the 266th man to occupy the highest seat in the Roman Catholic Church, and now he is making history as the very first to release a pop-rock album. The papacy’s long-awaited debut record, titled Wake Up!, is coming out on the 27th of this month, to a mixed worldwide response of confusion, excitement and more than a few sniggers at its expense.

Two singles have already dropped in the lead-up to the project’s release date, and the internet has had its typical reaction, immediately drawing sarcastic parallels to this year’s critical darlings, from Kendrick Lamar’s lauded To Pimp A Butterfly to pop favorite, Jamie xx’s In Colour and even to Compton, the first Dr. Dre album in over fifteen years. The album’s divergence from typical Christian music clichés, opting for a blend of pop, rock, and gospel, has led to a surge of excitement; some ironic, some genuine. Wake Up!, this year’s most anticipated release since Drake and Future went diamond, is set to turn heads one way or another.

Its status as an internet phenomenon aside, this album is real. Pope Francis continues to gain favour throughout the Western world, even with those outside of the Catholic faith entirely, due to his free-spirited manner and notably centrist political views. The Vatican is releasing a legitimate rock album, one not limited to Church hymns, with instrumentation beyond choirs and pipe organs – this is surprising, but with a Pope like Francis at the helm it is not unbelievable.

Most of the internet’s overblown reaction to the project can be attributed to misconceptions about the album’s contents. Pope Francis is not involved in the creation of any of the album’s musical elements, as much as many would love to hear him crooning on love ballads or thrashing on a few guitar leads. Instead, recordings of his speeches are built into every song on the eleventrack project, serving as moral and narrative cores for each piece. Wake Up! is less an album by the Pope and more an album inspired by the Pope.

The album’s producer, Don Giulio Neroni, spoke to Rolling Stone about the process of communicating the Pope’s messages in musical form. Neroni considers Francis to be “the Pope of dialogue, open doors, hospitality,” and hoped to create music that embodied that spirit of openness. “Contemporary music” such as pop and rock, as well as some Latin elements, “dialogues with the Christian tradition of sacred hymns,” he said, explaining the method behind the album’s bold mixture of styles. The two tracks released so far, ‘Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!’ and the mournful ‘¿Por Qué Sufren Los Niños?’ are both intended to showcase how pop music can be used to elevate the Pope’s already powerful words to speak to a greater meaning.

The first of the two, ‘Wake Up!...’, is the most surprising. Blaring, post-rock inspired guitars lead off the track, gliding in over a soft piano melody, which is later backed up by some triumphant horns and rapid-fire drums. Shortly after the

introduction, the instrumental hushes and the Pope’s voice filters in, urging his audience to “wake up.” “No one who sleeps can sing, dance, or rejoice,” he says, as the snare drum quietly keeps time and the piano ambles about in the background, the music giving the speech room to breathe. First given at the VI Asian Youth Day at Haemi Castle in South Korea, the Pope’s speech is a call to action for the world’s youth, to not let themselves sleep through life, to not ignore the will of God. The music conveys the urgency of this message, the screaming guitars and horns returning just as Francis calls out “Asian youth: wake up!” Escalating further, some progressive rock-inspired vocals, which are sung entirely in Latin, are brought in to close out the track.

This song is intense; it is emotional and affecting, and it is seriously enjoyable.

The second single, ‘¿Por Qué Sufren Los Niños?,’ takes a more reserved approach. A simple melody, evoked only by a single flute, a modest orchestral string section, and a twinkling keyboard set far in the background, makes room for traditional choir vocals, singing a Latin hymn. The music on this track is not nearly as ambitious as on the previous single, focusing instead on the Pope’s speech, which is quite moving. “Why do children suffer?” he asks the audience, addressing a question which is so often leveled against the devout religious. “Certain realities of life,” he

responds, “are only seen by eyes that have been washed clean by tears.” This album promises to be more than just a novelty: the Pope aims to provide insight on greater religious concepts. The song is unlikely to convince anyone that the suffering of children is a ‘necessary evil’, but it does raise a provocative argument nonetheless.

Many will not feel the need to listen to Wake Up! Simply being able to say that the Pope released a pop-rock album and to laugh at how ridiculous that sounds will be enough for most. However, considering the quality of the two songs released thus far, there may be more to this album than an internet meme can accurately convey. When speaking to Rolling Stone, Tony Pagluica, producer of the first single and several other upcoming tracks, described the album as “a very interesting artistic challenge.” Perhaps this is the best way to appreciate Wake Up!, as an experimental effort to blend pop music and Church doctrine in such a way that both elements are elevated. This is a combination which, up until recently, has occupied opposite sides of the politicalcorrectness spectrum and it is fascinating to see the two working together. Whether or not the rest of the album will overcome this artistic challenge is unclear, but even if it fails to do so, it is guaranteed to be an interesting, if slightly bizarre listen.

In the lead-up to the release of a first-of-its-kind pop rock album from Pope Francis, Owen Steinberger examines the first two singles and whether there’s more to them than the internet memes suggest

23

The Christmas season is approaching fast and Lucy Coffey looks at some of the key looks on sale this November AS CHRISTMAS approaches and the threat of frost hangs over every head, the urge to bury ourselves under a mountain of wool is strong.

However, as the party season begins to glitter in the foreground, the lust for glimmer and glamour gets far more pronounced and we suddenly feel like that River Island beaded crop top is totally appropriate for winter. Herein lies the dilemma – cozy or couture? In this final issue of the semester we look at some of the enchanting looks from Miss Selfridge and Louis Copeland and see if risking the cold is worth it.

The party season hosts a mix of events: from balls and galas to birthdays and club nights, we have a look for every occasion. Chisom sports a gorgeous pastel pink maxi dress with a heavily beaded bodice that accentuates her waist, hips and shoulders. This gives her the all coveted s-shape that flatters and highlights the wearer’s best features. However, the dress retains a feminine swish in the tulle finish that is so chic this season. Similarly, Sally wears a black maxi with iridescent beadwork in various shades of aquamarine, plum and silver. The beading spans the length of the dress and acts as an illuminator touching off all aspects of her form. It gives a subtle luminescence to the look that allows the dress to look constantly changing under different lights. The silhouette is drawn a lot tighter, with little movement in the garment to really emphasise the contoured nature of the dress. Both dresses are so heavily beaded that they require little embellishment, but a silver bangle or gold sparkly studs never go amiss.

The Menswear formal look is cut evenly between suit and tux. Dave is dressed in a traditional tuxedo with satin trimmed lapels, a white close-fit cotton shirt and black front seamed trousers. Paired with a velvet bowtie and a well-kept beard, this look is 007 classic

24

and is one of the most enduring looks of all time. The look can be played up by changing the colour of the shirt or bowtie and by adding a pair of cufflinks. Mackenzie wears a much more relaxed blue suit paired with a white shirt. He keeps the look casual by opening the top buttons of the shirt and keeping the jacket unbuttoned. The sharp tone of the blue highlights the olive tone of his skin and plays against the subtlety of his shirt to give a crisp yet informal feel to the look. However, this look is easy to formalise by either adding a simple tie, or going the whole shebang and adding a waistcoat and some gold-tone cufflinks.

Our final looks are some sophisticated club looks that can be worn all throughout the season without ever losing their charisma.

Sally’s dress shimmers in true 1920s flapper style, with flowery appliques and a cascade of teardrop beads that shimmer and shift with every movement. The high-neck of the dress keeps the looked refined in navy and pearlescent tones that complement her icy blue eyeshadow and strawberry pink lips. Chisom sports a black round-necked mini-dress with sequin embellishment around the neck and a sheer v-shaped cut-out to the chest. Daring and divine, the dress switches between silver and onyx in Aztec blocks and shines brighter than any diamond under light. It accents Chisom’s soft skin and draws attention to her waist in one high-knitted motion. Her shimmering magenta eye shadow and full berry-rich lips give a spark of colour to this monochromatic look.

All in all, this winter is primed for perfection with the daring pieces slowly flooding retailers.

From sultry sequins to glimmering glitter, there’s no doubt that while you may not be cozy by the time the frosts roll out, you’ll definitely be spectacular.

Frost or Fierce?

photographer: Dmytro Moyseyev Make-Up Artist: Roxana Melut Models: Chisom Aghamelu, Dave Zog Muller, Sally Mc Hugh, Mackenzie Mirahmadi.

Suppliers: Miss Selfridge & Louis Copland Stylist: Lucy Coffey

25

Om Diva AW15/16 Om Diva just launched its new AW15/16 collection bursting with stand-out pieces. With so much to choose from, Megan Hickey and Lucy Coffey give us the low down on the best of the bunch ON A miserable November Wednesday in Drury Street, the boutique store Om Diva entices with its baby pink exterior and window display that would get any fashionistas rushing to the door.

On the November 4th Om Diva hosted their Autumn/Winter launch party for both their A/W contemporary and vintage collections as well as their exciting new Irish designers. With the help of a glass of prosecco and doughnuts from Aungier Danger, OTwo looked at some of the best pieces from the launch.

We started in the basement where the décor is just as beautiful as the gorgeous vintage clothing it’s filled with. A pink, loose fitting dress with a dropped waist and an oversized collar catches the eye immediately. A perfect dress to wear all year round, it was made of a delicate satin that shimmered with every movement.

Fur jackets are of course big every winter, but the black and white striped vintage beauty (pictured) found on Om Diva’s racks is perfect for those of you who are not ready to step out in a screaming-red fur jacket. We’ll save that for next season, shall we? The vintage topper was a quirky pineapple bag found hanging inconspicuously off to one side. Fruit shaped accessories are proven to satisfy that pining for summer as well as adding a bit of quirk to your Christmas.

Our ascent to the ground floor showcased Om Diva’s contemporary A/W stock. Our favourite piece from this collection was a pair of emerald velvet trousers. Velvet is a great winter material and trousers are perfect for cold winter nights out. They make the wearer chic and warm which is more than we can say for a lot of other club ensembles. The highlight of a blue and yellow knitted two piece is daring and bright for A/W clothing with its subtle colour clash and gives a classy salute to the 80s while keeping the look

modern by instituting a high neck and cropped bottom.

On our final traipse up what felt like a million steps, we finally got upstairs the Irish designers showroom. For OTwo the stand out designer was Dolly Delinquent. With obvious influences from Alice in Wonderland, this surreal and detailed collection was fun, colourful and most importantly filled with tulle. The attention to detail in this collection was incredible, with details like tiny teacups sewn on a bright pink mesh skirt circle sequins with flowy 70s sleeves and large pointed collars decorated with little hats.

However, this collection was by no means the only contender on the floor as bright sparks stood out in every collection. A leather sleeveless jacket was loose fitting, with detailed leather ties around the hem and gave off a a high fashion feel. The colours, deep and wintery, contrasted the unique leather strings

tied around the seams. A seemingly innocent white sheer shirt, from a brand called Tissues, kept to a classic and structured design, and paired with loose fitting trousers it would make for a classy, if daring, winter work outfit. The last piece of focus was Hannah Choy O’Byrne’s woollen jumper. It’s all business in the back and party in the front with its textured woollen red fronting and smooth white material on the back. This grey jumper with distressed colourful material is ideal for someone who wants to add a subtle dash of colour into their winter wardrobe.

The range of choice offered in Om Diva is ideal for someone looking to brighten up their winter palette but who loves innovative and structured pieces. One thing is for certain, this shop has so much to offer in terms of adventure and vintique that you’ll definitely find a musthave piece on every floor.

Photography: LUCY COFFEY

Ones to Watch: 2015’s rising fashion icons Katie Devlin looks at some of the fast-emerging style icons to keep your fashion eye on in the coming months

LEA SEYDOUX Photograph: JOBLO

26

THE WINTER season is always an exciting one for fashion; post-fashion month and pre-awards season is the perfect time for Hollywood’s best and brightest to earn their stripes in the style stakes. Indeed, there are three fashion forces currently sweeping the boards with their individual styles and they’re definitely ones to watch.

French actress Léa Seydoux has been making a real impression on the red carpet for a while now, but since adding ‘Bond girl’ to her CV, she has cemented her status as a true style force to be reckoned with. Her classic signature look has all the elegance and sophistication of old school Hollywood glamour. Favouring designers like Prada and Miu Miu, her taste is simple and understated, but incredibly modish with a slightly eclectic edge. It’s easy to see why she’s fast becoming one of fashion’s biggest emerging “it” girls.

Alicia Vikander is a rising star both on screen and on best dressed lists everywhere. The Swedish actress is the current face of Louis Vuitton, and makes the high fashion pieces look

chic and completely effortless on the red carpet. Favouring embellishments and often mixing bold, dramatic prints, she is always on the pulse of any current trends.

However she doesn’t strictly adhere to them and incorporates them to suit her, which is why she is a true fashion icon in the making and someone to definitely keep your eye on this winter season.

Bella Hadid is stepping out of her Gigi’s shadow in a big way. The model has a definitive style that is distinctively different to her big sister’s. Although she does frequent the runway at fashion week, her personal style is much more interesting. Her cool-girl mix of black leather and 70s inspired pieces is edgy but still sophisticated; so on-trend but still so individual. Bella doesn’t play by any style rules, and this is exactly why she’s making tracks in her own right.

These ladies have set the bar to a new level, and others are going to have to jump pretty high to overtake them.

What will these fashion icons do in the oncoming months? But more importantly, who will try and beat them out?

BELLA HADID Photograph: Belle

Dublin de Rigueur A slice of UNIVERSITY Fashion Name: Owen Higgson Studying: International Public Relations and Sociology Clothes: Shoes – Tk Maxx Shirt: I don’t know.

Jacket: H&M Bag: Don’t know again.

‘My jacket is probably my favourite piece.

I’ve had it for about five years now and I’ve lost it about seven times and it always comes back to me. It’s a forever jacket.’

Name: Coleen Finnerty Studying: English with Drama Clothes: Jacket –Penneys, Trousers - H&M, Shirt – New Look, Bag- Penneys.

‘I like my trousers the most – they’re really statement. You can really see them. I got them in Germany in H&M.’ PhotoGRAPHER: AISLING MCGUIRE

Cold Hands, Clear Skin Kiera Black looks at how to keep your skin healthy and flush in winter’s bitter colds SUMMER is long since finished; autumn’s coming to a close. Perhaps the mild weather has been kind enough to let you keep that golden-cheeked glow, but make no mistake – winter is coming. For many, this means lip-chapping, hand-numbing and a rosy-nosedness usually favoured among the reindeer population. We’d go a step further and confess that we might be entirely allergic to the elements. But fear not, it’s still possible to retain a fresh and healthy complexion during these chilly times, with a little help from some trusty products.

The first on our list is MooGoo Skin Milk Udder Cream. This Aussie brand is modelled on the moisturiser used to keep cows udders smooth, supple and comfortable, but has been adjusted to better suit your lovely human face and hands. Milk-based products can work wonders as milk proteins give

elasticity to tight and uncomfortable winter skin while also helping to clear blemishes.

It’s light, affordable and, as an added bonus, environmentally friendly. It’s easily available from Holland and Barrett at €12.08 for 120g.

Our second skin saviour is Elizabeth Arden’s 8 Hour Cream. It’s the holy grail of skincare products. An all-rounder, this must-have can be used to revive and protect the face, hands, lips and heels from even the harshest weather and busiest days. It can also be used as an after-sun soother and post-wax treatment. A gentle exfoliator and intense moisturiser, it’s not Elle magazine’s chosen ‘Best Multitasker’ for nothing. You can pick up a tube from Arnotts at €33.00 for 30g.

Next on our list is the Botanics Hydrating Day Cream with hibiscus extract. A Boots

own brand, this nifty little number is both super cheap and effective for a fresh look year-round. Hibiscus helps firm and lift the skin, and smells pretty sweet as well; a bathroom cabinet necessity. It’s available from any Boots outlet at approximately €6.50.

The last product on the list is an all-time classic –Vaseline. When in doubt, lather on a layer of this remarkably cheap, intensely moisturising petroleum-based magic. It soothes cracked heels and chapped lips, provides a barrier for your icy little nose against the harsh winds and fits snugly into any pocket or purse, all for less than €3.00. Pick up this staple at literally any chemist from €1.95.

So, give a few of these little wonders a go and embrace the winter season with open arms and a freshly hydrated, rosy face.

SKIN MILK UDDER CREAM Photo: the glow

27

Oisín Byrne Politics and art

THROUGH a crackling phone line, Oisín Byrne begins to delve into the details of the late Gretchen Bender’s 1987 work, Total Recall. He enlightens OTwo that Total Recall is a piece which should not be considered as a negative reflection on media. Rather, it is a comment on her idea of ‘electronic theatre’ and the absolute speed at which television illustrates this. For anyone who is not familiar with Total Recall, it is an installation consisting of 24 monitors, with a melange of images such as those associated with Hollywood, the Cold-War and varying logos that are representative of corporations.

Byrne says that Bender’s piece undermines the television’s “authority of viewpoint”.

“Instead of a single political message going through, you watch multiple screens revealing complexity, contradiction, and manipulation, of political viewpoints… She literally says something about an acceleration into, rather than a resistance to, our multi-layered visual environment.”

Although created in 1987, there is an eerie familiarity about the way in which we use technology today, almost like a predictability of what was to come. In Byrne’s words, a “kind of promiscuity and mobility of information that’s there, is like what we have now… In terms of attention, your eyes moving around the place so much. We move so fast from one thing to the next thing in terms of research and the internet.”

Moving on to Byrne’s work itself, it is a piece that is on show as part of Gretchen Bender’s Total Recall exhibition in the Project Arts Centre and is curated by Tessa Giblin. It is a series of prints on a curtain, and is the first and last thing you will see on entering into view Bender’s piece, as it acts as a kind of door; a framing device, if you will. In response to Total Recall, it consists of an array of images and is “so much choppier” than anything Byrne would usually make. This he credits to his current involvement with filmmaking. “Usually I make these things that would be a single image, in a way. If that makes sense.” With this, however, he says that he thinks “subconsciously, from working on film all year and chopping up images and sticking them together” is what has

28

resulted in the design of the curtain.

Byrne tells OTwo that as well as his current exhibition in the Project Arts Centre, and another solo one, called On Being Named which will be in London in the Cecilia Brunson Projects gallery in January, he is also editing a film called Glue . The film, he says, is about a person who suffers from narcolepsy. He draws attention to the interesting correlation between how the narcoleptic person keeps attention and Bender’s work “through the way that images move and through the way that the speed of images, or the slowness of images” relate to the person’s state of mind.

Looking through Byrne’s work, it quickly becomes apparent that he is no stranger to working with different mediums when it comes to art, and he is not afraid to try out new things. While working with film on one hand, he says that he throws himself into pretty much everything else you could think of. “I very much work in different media for different projects.

Sometimes, I worry about it (that it’s so spread out) but I mean, I don’t think I can change. I write, I make films, I paint, I make costumes, I build stages, I build curtains.”

With all these different projects, how does he keep himself focused? Byrne says it is down to engaging with the variety within his work that helps him keep his mind set on a project at hand. “You know what they say, a change is as good as a rest. If I’m painting on Tuesday, it’s difficult to paint again on Wednesday, but you could edit a film and then you could switch to something else. I think it’s kind of like (again using a metaphor that I’m not very comfortable with) but it’s a bit like farming. You have to leave a field fallow for a minute.”

Byrne certainly gives the aura of a man with his head on his shoulders as, despite seeming to be incredibly busy, he says that he manages to keep his thoughts in order by taking it one day at a time. “At any given time I’m not going to be thinking about everything at once. I say: today is a day when I think about this. And then I do that. Then the next day, I might think about something else.” With his own exhibition coming up in London, in which he will showcase a variety of his work done in

different mediums, his cool head will no doubt come in handy.

His solo show, On Being Named, he says will experiment with how his different works react with one another. As an artist who works with such a variety of mediums, he wants to explore the effect of putting them collectively under one roof. All his works, all his personalities, are put together “like [he’s] a schizophrenic, and [he’s] like, okay we’re all in the room together!” This will showcase a video which he has created, of two men played by the same character, shouting insults at each other.

Alongside this, will be his “straightforward” portraits that he describes as being “pretty, polite and intimate.” He says that the exhibition will be in relation to an essay he has written on the idea of name calling, and that the video of insults will be interesting beside these more conventional portraits.

“I kind of like the idea that those pretty portraits are getting a tiny bit bullied by the video. Just a bit…I’m trying to kind of triangulate and make the writing, the film, and the portraits, speak to each other…I think it’s so nice to think about how works are alongside each other, ‘cause you know, in art we talk about autonomy as the key word. But actually you know, fuck autonomy! It’s not the only game in town by any means.”

Byrne is certainly not afraid to go his own way and it has quite obviously been working out for him. With a trail of great things already in his past, we can be sure to expect the same excitement and originality on his upcoming and current projects. Make sure to get into the Project Arts Centre to view the exhibition for free before it finishes running on the 23rd December 2015.

Oisín Byrne takes some time out to talk with Maebh Butler about his piece in response to Gretchen Bender’s Total Recall, which is on show in the Project Arts Centre

IN DUBLIN, there is a buzzing theatre scene constantly happening around us.

Multiple theatres – big and small – are constantly producing high-quality, incisive and engaging art. Theatre exists to interrogate society; to question its deepest held beliefs, and to never allow us to rest on our laurels. That is, at least, if you’re a man, according to the Abbey Theatre’s recent Waking The Nation 2016 programme. Their programme, which has very successfully woken a nation to the inherent and undisputable sexism present in theatre, is a damning example of the subjugation of women in Irish society.

While the intention of the 2016 programme was to wake the nation, the Abbey succeeded in doing something entirely different: they woke the feminists. The announcement of the 2016 programme has given birth to a new movement, aptly called Waking The Feminists. As they point out on their website, the problem is clear. Only one out of the 10 plays scheduled for 2016 is written by a woman. Only three are directed by a woman. The irony rings true when looking at the Abbey’s press release from the announcement of the programme. They refer to it as “dynamic”, and go on to say that its intention is to “reflect on our past, the Ireland of today and of the future.”

The situation worsened when people began to criticise the Abbey for its gender exclusive programme. Fiach Mac Conghail, the Director of the theatre, responded via Twitter to the claims by saying, “I don’t and haven’t programmed plays on a gender basis. I took decisions based on who I admired and wanted to work with. Sometimes plays we have commissioned by and about women just don’t work out. That has happened.”

He has since noted that his stance was not justifiable, saying in a statement: “I regret the gender imbalance in our Waking The Nation programme for the significant year ahead. The fact that I haven’t programmed a new play by a female playwright is not something I can defend. This experience has presented a professional challenge to me as a programmer and has made me question the filters and factors that influence my decision-making.”

Tanya Dean, a spokesperson for the movement, explains however that while the programme lit the fire, this is in no sense a new issue. “The Abbey programme was what lit the blue touch paper, but it was not because a single programme was perceived to be unfair; it was because the programme represented the synecdoche of a history of chronic underrepresentation of women’s voices in the Abbey Theatre and in Irish theatre in general,” she says. “Irish Theatre Institute have recently published the figures to starkly highlight this: since 1904, female playwrights have represented just 20 per cent of the total plays premiered in Ireland, and just 14 per cent of the total plays premiered at the Abbey Theatre.

When Senator Mac Conghail took over as artistic director of the Abbey, he pledged to institute an affirmative action programme in order to address this imbalance; despite this, during his tenure at the Abbey, the number of female playwrights given a full production (and not a commission or short play) at the Abbey has fallen to 12.3 per cent.”

“Looking at the figures, it’s clear that this is an endemic issue across the sector,” Dean continues. “We as a sector have to do the complicated and

Waking The Feminists: Irish Theatre’s Equality Debate As Waking The Feminists has taken Dublin and the world by storm, Patrick Kelleher looks at the birth of the movement, and the systematic exclusion of women from theatre

often painful work of examining our own unconscious biases, and addressing the larger cultural factors that hinder women from achieving sustained success in Irish theatre.”

When a group of people – both men and women – decided that enough was enough, they could never have predicted how it would take off. The movement has received global attention and, as Dean says, has “set Twitter ablaze”. The movement has gotten support from names as diverse as Brian F. O’Byrne, Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski and Saoirse Ronan.

While they are incredibly grateful for the huge reaction it has received, Dean is quick to note that what has been most important to them is the effect it’s had.

“What I think has been the most valuable response has been the questioning it has provoked regarding unconscious bias,” says Dean. She notes the huge meaning Mac Conghail’s statement had and also references the effect it has had across the board in the arts. “Jimmy Fay of the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, Cian O’Brien of Project Arts Centre in Dublin, Loughlin Deegan of the Lir academy, Julie Kelleher of the Everyman Theatre in Cork have not only offered their unequivocal support to WTF, they have articulated the need to consciously consider how historical patriarchal social structures might be unfairly influencing important programming decisions

across the industry,” she says.

This support has also lent itself to other areas of the arts. “The response from outside the industry has been so encouraging as well; on the 12th November, the Irish Film Board made a statement acknowledging the major underrepresentation of women in Irish film. There’s a real feeling that WTF took a critical mass of shared experiences of inequality and injustice, and made it impossible to unsee the problem. Once you see chronic female underrepresentation in one arena, you start to recognise it elsewhere. And once one group raise their voices, others find the courage to raise theirs as well.”

The whole debacle culminated on Thursday 12th November, when Waking The Feminists assembled at the Abbey Theatre to discuss the underrepresentation of women on the stage. The event highlighted the need for a place for women in theatre, and was without doubt a roaring success.

While the Abbey Theatre has served as a catalyst for Waking The Feminists, Dean notes that they are only a part of the problem. The movement is not there to tackle the national theatre, but rather to tackle women’s exclusion from theatre.

“The Abbey is most certainly not the

only major institution guilty of gender inequity in its history,” she says. “This is a problem across the entire industry, and it is incumbent upon all of us to begin the good work that will make our profession stronger, more equal, and a proud reflection of Irish society.”

There are no intentions for the movement to collapse in a whimper following the heights of last week, however. The movement is not going to be a fleeting one, according to Dean, and work will continue into the future to make these changes to Irish theatre. They are already developing plans for the future to ensure that women will be taken from the periphery of the stage, and brought right into the centre. Waking the Feminists are fighting for justice for women in the arts, and while it’s not an easy feat, it’s clearly a much needed fight.

29

Ai Weiwei and the Case of the Missing Lego Blocks

Síofra Ní Shluaghadháin looks into Ai Weiwei and his battle with Lego, and discusses the issue of censorship when it comes to art business AI WEIWEI is perhaps not a household name in Ireland, but the Chinese artist – who works predominantly on vast installation pieces – has been kicking up a storm on the internet in the last couple of weeks. The cause of this sudden burst of frenzied cyber activity?

A lack of Lego bricks, or more accurately, the refusal on the part of the Lego company to sell their product to him in bulk. It sounds almost like a factoid from a copy of Believe It or Not, but in this case, it is to be believed.

The origins of this story can be traced back several weeks.

Ai Weiwei has been planning an exhibition, this time in the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia. Among the exhibits planned are some built of the famous plastic blocks, a medium that has been used before by the artist in his works. However, on this occasion, when Weiwei attempted to place a bulk order with the Danish toymakers, his request was denied.

The reason given for their refusal? Lego, as the makers of what is ostensibly a product marketed at children, has stated that they have a long standing policy of refusing to supply their product for projects that may have a political statement attached to them. This could certainly apply to the work of Ai Weiwei, who has been arrested numerous times, and imprisoned on three occasions in China for statements made in the course of his artistic endeavours.

Not to be flummoxed for a moment, Ai Weiwei took to Twitter, where he has a significant presence and a sizeable following, to comment upon this statement. He called Lego’s refusal to supply him an act of “censorship and discrimination”.

What happened in the following hours and days is a case-study in the power of the internet and social-media’s presence in life beyond the digital realm. Within a short time, fans and admirers of the Chinese artist had pledged their own Lego bricks, and those of their (hopefully consenting) children to aid his project. Such a flood of these promises came in that the artist himself came forward with a statement claiming he would do his best to accept all of these offers.

Collection points, in the form of parked, unmarked, locked cars with open sun-roofs, have been planned in several cities worldwide.

The first of these appeared outside the National

Gallery of Victoria.

The question of censorship and free speech is a controversial topic, particularly in China, where its artistic population is constrained under what is generally seen as an oppressive regime. It is one that the West is generally uncomfortable in dealing with.

Although the tenants of free speech and freedom of expression are enshrined in the concept of modern democracy, censorship is still present in our daily lives; from age ratings on films to the conspicuous bleeps which obscure inappropriate language from our television screens.

Every day, people make decisions about what is right and improper for the public to consume in the media – but when does this take a step too far? Have Lego, in refusing to supply their product to an artist, overstepped their bounds in regards to controlling the consumption of their product?

It is easy to argue in favour of Lego’s current position – Ai Weiwei is an artist famed for his critical and often inflammatory political statements. He is by no means a favourite of the Chinese government, and there is little denying that China is one of Lego’s fastest growing markets.

The difficulty lies in their reasoning – their demand that Lego be removed from the sphere of political art altogether.

The Danish company are in the business of producing a trademark product – those plastic bricks which we all remember from our childhoods, and which everyone has stepped on, and rued the step they took. Imagine for a moment that that was not the business they were in. Imagine instead, a Lego company that made pens, produced paper, made typewriters, paint or carving tools. Would this hypothetical company be allowed the same leeway to control not only the sale, but the use of their product?

Could a manufacturer of computers turn around one day and say that no politically inflammatory material was to be written or distributed via their machines?

While this idea may seem farcical, the decision by Lego to become publicly involved with Ai Weiwei has the potential

''Within a short time, fans and admirers of the Chinese artist had pledged their own Lego bricks, and those of their (hopefully consenting) children to aid his project.''

''The difficulty lies in their reasoning their demand that Lego be removed from the sphere of political art all together.''

30

to set a worrying precedent. Placing restrictions on the production and distribution of art, be it visual, written or performed, is an act of censorship which often comes into conflict with the ideals of our free and democratic society. In other words, if Lego are allowed not to sell their product to a particular artist, where is the line to be drawn? Is this the beginning of

to date, and it is certain that offers of a slippery slope, or have people simply overreacted en masse to what is an issue donations will continue to pour in, in a defiant defence of art and free speech. between supplier and potential buyer?

This story, unfortunately, is one which raises more questions than it answers. At the same time, it has been a triumph of the internet, which Weiwei has heralded as a new sort of church. His call has been answered by thousands of people

ILLUSTRATOR: DEARBHLA ROSS

IN Photo: arTHUR RIORDAN

FaTal Fourway MOST IRRATIONAL FEARS PATRICK KELLEHER - PAYING FOR THINGS SOME people say paying for things is a natural thing that, as an adult, I should probably be comfortable with doing. These people are foolish and devoid of any understanding of all of the fears associated with paying for things. The experience is a terrifying one with many possibilities for failure.

I have been afraid of paying for things for as long as I can remember. It began with playing Shop as a child, where paying became an excruciating test from my older sister. When she wasn’t tormenting me by telling me my parents were aliens or that we were getting a pool table for Christmas (thanks Louise), she was looking down on me for not being smart enough. My difficulty with numbers has been well documented in the Kelleher household, and my sister’s response was to test me regularly on it. One of the ways she did this was in playing shop, to see how I could successfully pay for things. It always

ended in disaster – tears, screams, protestations of ‘but I’m a child, I don’t need these life skills yet!’ rang through each crevice of the household. But to no avail, dear reader. To no avail.

The fear has extended well into adulthood. Now doing something as simple as paying for yet another latte in the SU shop can scare me half to death.

Where do I queue? Do I have my money counted correctly before I approach the counter? Each time it feels as though I am going before a high court judge, waiting to be sentenced. “But Patrick, this is only €1.40. What the f*ck are you playing at?!”

Of course this scenario never arises. The staff are always pleasant, even if I have failed to correctly count my change. Perhaps they see the fear in my eyes. Or maybe it’s the tear rolling down my cheek as I walk out of their shop that makes them say “What’s up with that guy? Why is he so emotionally

unstable?” Well, now you have your answer. So if you work in a shop, and you see a tall nerd coming in buying a tenth latte in a day, and he looks totally terrified, please be gentle, dear shop assistant.

EVA GRIFFIN - DYING ALONE ‘MY god, how could anyone ever love so many chins?’ I wonder as yet another unflattering photo is unleashed into the ether of the Internet. I’m lying in bed donning a particularly hideous onesie of the Penneys’ variety, instinctively shoving handfuls of chocolate peanuts into my mouth to the point where puking seems an inevitability. Unsurprisingly, I am alone, with only the dust ingrained in the carpet keeping me company.

This scene plays out at regular intervals, usually on Saturday nights after another week of avoiding college work by ducking into either the Observer office or the pub, alternately drowning my sorrows in packets of Custard Creams and straight whiskey. It seems the loneliness that colours my days is just one

other fattening element puffing out my ninth chin.

Is this it? Is this how my life will run on a continuous loop? My irrational fear is the existential crisis that plagues many 20-somethings and one that keeps me bed-ridden, choking on my own spit while I scream along to ‘Creep’ and think about how no one will ever understand me like Thom Yorke does. I’m a weirdo destined to die alone, probably in some tragic circumstances like suffocating under crisp packets and cat hairs as my mangled orange hand reaches out for one last sweet, sweet Cheeto.

Is this fear even so irrational? I once spent 24 hours in bed thinking, with each hour ticking by, that it was probably a bit too embarrassingly late to emerge from my cave covered in Belvita biscuit crumbs.

Would even a mother be capable of showing affection to such a lumpy slug of a human? The answer is no, based on my family’s decision to move to the other side of the world and leave me to my kingdom of slime, tumbling towards my lonely death in a distinctly sloth-like fashion.

GRÁINNE LOUGHRAN - STREET GRATES SO you’re walking down Parnell Street on the way to Fibbers on an average Friday. It’s a dark night, and the footpath is probably as filthy as the interior of Fibbers itself. And then out of nowhere, you stumble and fall and flail in various directions, because your pumps (the really nice ones with the little heels, goddamn those heels) have gotten caught in a street grate. You’re alone and no one will hear you scream as you’re dragged by the ankle down into the sewer below. What’s dragging you? Does it matter? It’s probably a serial killer living underground like the mutants in Futurama, or something resembling the Penguin in Batman. It doesn’t matter what it is, it will drag me to the sewers, and I will stumble around in various forms of excrement for several days before

eventually being killed and potentially eaten by the sewer monster. I swear to god, all I wanted was a pint.

Street grates aren’t such an irrational fear now are they? Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to have seemingly random gaps in the street down into some sort of underground system filled with horrors and mutants? It doesn’t matter if they’re covered up; the cover’s going to fall in at some point, most likely when my weight is on it. Does anyone check these things for safety? What if they don’t? Won’t they rust at some point? What am I going to do if I’m facing a horde of teenagers along a footpath and the grate is on one side and the horde is on the other? Do I hedge my bets with the sewer monsters or face the horde of delinquents? I’m never leaving the house again.

Karl Quigley - DARK LORDS

Sure Darth Vader has the mask and the suit, the Witch King has that bitchin’ helmet, Voldemort has no nose DO YOU know what absolutely terrifies me? Well of (and he is played by Ralph Fiennes). But it’s the way course you don’t, this fourway is gonna tell you. And they actually present themselves beyond the straight up physical. It never occurs to any one of them that you’re gonna sit there and like it. I am terrified of they might lose. Vader never falters, even with a hand a ‘dark lord’. I swear this isn’t a joke. Sauron, Darth Vader, Voldemort, even Satan. Very Dark Lords. They cut off he’s still just like what’s up I’m your daddy themselves are scary, powerful things and beings that (spoilers). The Witch King has his giant fell-beast and lord over us with their deep voices and being played even when its head gets cut off he rises from its body with a big scary flail. And sure Voldemort had Ralph

by Ralph Fiennes (Praise Be).

Sauron though I could probably leave out, more Fiennes, so.

They walk tall and unopposed because before like The Witch King. Now the honest reason I am afraid is because of the way they present themselves. any fight occurs, half the people against them have

already lost the fight. Of course it’s scary because we’re afraid they’ll win. Which is natural to be afraid of. I mean could you even imagine a world ruled by Vader... or, and I shudder to think of the world ruled by the indomitable Ralph Fiennes.

31

1

2 3

1: Annabelle Nguyen 2: Aaron Murphy 3: James Healy 4: Amanda Cheng 5: Annabelle Nguyen

4

32

5